2013 Seña in top ranking by Gutiérrez

The 2013 vintage of Chile’s  first “icon wine”, Seña has been awarded 96 points by wine critic Luis Gutiérrez, in his South American report for Wine Advocate.

Vina Seña’s head winemaker, Francisco Baettig

In his report, “Chile: Think Outside the Box”, for Parker’s WA, Gutiérrez describes the latest vintage of Seña as “Linear, juicy, sharp and long, very tasty and with very fine, slightly grainy tannins. There is superb balance, classical proportion and symmetry. I have not tasted all of the vintages of Seña (one day…), but out of all the years I’ve tried, this is certainly the best,” enabling Seña to scoop the top position.

The 96-points award follows a slew of other accolades, including Hong Kong’s James Suckling giving it 99 points in July last year and then in September, when he elected it as his “Top N°1 Best of Los Andes”, after a tasting of Argentinian and Chilean wine. Furthermore, Seña 2013 was also chosen recently as the “Best Red Blend” by Chilean critic, Patricio Tapia in his “Descorchados” Guide 2016.

Deemed Chile’s “first icon wine,” Seña was created in 1995 as a collaboration between Viña Errázuriz and Robert Mondavi, until Mondavi’s death in 2003 where Errázuriz’s owner, Eduardo Chadwick took the helm. The 2013 Seña is 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Carmenere, 12% Malbec, 10% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot and has been aged for 22 months in 75% new French oak. 

Seña first came to global attention in 2004 when its 2001 and 2000 vintages ranked in the top four places at the Berlin Tasting ahead of 2001 Margaux, and the 2001 vintage forced 2000 Lafite into third place.

Chadwick commented: “Seña was created with the vision to be a world-class wine like none other in Chile, and that would change the way the world thought about Chilean wines. I am very happy about these recognitions. This is not only a great milestone for Seña, but also for all Chilean wines in our pursuit of excellence and recognition of quality at the highest level.”

Francisco Baettig, Seña’s head winemaker also added: “Finesse and elegance are the two words that best describe Seña 2013, a perfect blend of structure, persistence, and depth along with freshness and balance. This is the most wonderful recognition for the Seña team, for all of these years of hard work and dedication.”