Seña

Seña – literally meaning “signal” – was Chile’s first icon wine. In the early 1990s, the country had a reputation mainly for lower-end, high-volume wines, but Eduardo Chadwick, owner and president of Viña Errázuriz, set out to change that.

About the producer

He partnered with Robert Mondavi to craft a world-class Chilean wine. They spent four years finding the perfect site, eventually settling on the Aconcagua Valley. Here, 40km from the Pacific Ocean, they planted 42 hectares with Bordeaux varieties. The first vintage was 1995.

Seña is made up of 42 hectares on slopes in the Aconcagua Valley. The soils here are varied, ranging from gravel to clay-loam – perfect for planting the whole range of Bordeaux varieties.

The warm Mediterranean climate is tempered by its proximity to the Pacific, while the vineyard’s east-facing exposition protects the vines from overly strong, cold winds.

The bulk of the vineyard is made up with Cabernet Sauvignon (13 hectares) and Carménère (11 hectares), with smaller areas of Malbec (8 hectares), Petit Verdot (5 hectares), Merlot (4 hectares) and Cabernet Franc (1 hectare). The site has been certified biodynamic since 2005.

Francisco Baettig is without doubt Chile’s most celebrated and renowned winemaker. Having gained experience around the world, he has made the wines at Seña since 2003, shifting the style significantly from 2013 – placing more emphasis on elegance.

Today the fruit is hand-picked, sorted and de-stemmed. It’s mainly fermented in stainless steel with a small proportion (usually around 6%) in new oak.

The wine is pumped over three times a day to extract colour and flavour, with the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carménère spending between three weeks and a month on skins, and only around a week for the Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The wine is racked to 100% new oak barrels where it stays for 22 months before bottling.

Seña 1:1

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