Winemaker Notes
Blend: 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Carmenere, 12% Merlot, 7% Malbec, 6% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The owner of Sena believes this is his best ever and I have to agree. It has fabulous character of blackberry, licorice, sandalwood and hot stones that turns to cigar box and hints of sweet tea. Rich, agile and playful. Made from biodynamically grown grapes.
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Wine Spectator
A rich, round and lush-tasting red, featuring concentrated flavors of dark currant, plum tart and dark berry, with plenty of toasty notes. Suave tannins caress the creamy finish. Drink now through 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Sena is from a cool vineyard on a rocky hillside with some clay, in the middle of the Aconcagua Valley, where there is still some influence from the Pacific Ocean. This wine has always been a blend, and in 2012 it is half Cabernet Sauvignon, complemented by Carmenere, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Bright and focused, with a nose mixing red fruit, it is also bright-colored, with ripe black fruit and balsamic notes in the shape of tobacco and cedar wood, with a medium-bodied palate, very good freshness and acidity, sophisticated, polished and fine-grained tannins. This is still a baby, but the silky texture makes it accessible now, while the complexity should come with more time. Drink 2015-2022.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
The Aconcagua River runs east from the charming costal town of Valparaiso and bisects the land creating the valley after which it was named. While alluvial soils predominate the Aconcagua Valey along its river throughout, its east-west flow creates drastically different conditions on each of its ends. Its western, seaside vineyards, with clay and stony soils upon gently rolling hills, produce cool-climate varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Its inner region is one of Chile’s hottest and produces some of its best red wines. Panquehue in the inner Aconcagua is the site of Chile’s first Syrah vines, planted in 1993.