Sena estate spotlight
James Suckling films Eduardo Chadwick at Vina Sena in the Aconcagua Valley, the Mondavi-Chadwick project behind this 2021.
2021 Sena Aconcagua Valley, Chile
Eduardo Chadwick and Francisco Baettig's biodynamic Aconcagua icon, James Suckling 100, a 2021 you can cellar at one hundred fifteen dollars.
The 2021 Sena is 50 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with 27 percent Malbec, 17 percent Carmenere, and 6 percent Petit Verdot from Ocoa: strawberry, cassis, rose petal, clove, and cocoa after 22 months in French oak and foudre, now $115.
Chile's first icon wine, in a cooler year that kept alcohol honest
Sena began as Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi's bid to put Chilean wine on a Bordeaux table. The 2021 is a cooler year in the path of 2016 and 2018: 50 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 27 percent Malbec, 17 percent Carmenere, 6 percent Petit Verdot, picked later, still under 14 percent alcohol. James Suckling 100 and a top slot in his 2023 list: a cornucopia of black, red, and blue berries, floral lift, super-concentrated finesse. Wine Advocate 98-plus: elegant, nuanced, ultra-refined tannin. Decanter 97. Vinous 96. This is the bottle that argues Aconcagua can drink with the world's first growths at one hundred fifteen dollars.
The house
Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi founded Sena in 1995. Chadwick has run it since buying Mondavi's share in 2004. Francisco Baettig makes the wine.
The wine
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Malbec, 17% Carmenere, 6% Petit Verdot. Steel and a little foudre ferment. 22 months oak. Biodynamic.
The scores
James Suckling 100. Wine Advocate 98-plus. Decanter 97. Vinous 96. Tim Atkin 98.
The drinker
Cassis and rose first. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Ribeye or lamb.
Cassis and rose, then clove, cocoa, and a vertical line
Sena's own note is strawberries, cassis, and rose petals, then clove, spice, cocoa, red fruit, pastry, and dark chocolate on juicy acidity and fine tannin. James Suckling found a flood of berries, then floral lift and a finish that builds. Wine Advocate found aromatic finesse, a spicy Cabernet twist, and ultra-refined tannin. Vinous found redcurrant, blackcurrant, garrigue, and cigar box.
A cooler year than 2019 and 2020. Baettig raised Malbec for the vintage and kept alcohol below 14%. Luis Gutierrez called it one of the finest Sena vintages, with more finesse than power.
Strawberry, cassis, blackcurrant, rose, clove, cocoa, garrigue, cigar box.
Medium to full, under 14% ABV, 22 months French oak and foudre, ultra-fine tannin.
Vertical, juicy, long. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Cool-year Malbec lift, then 22 months of French oak and foudre
On the Sena and Wine Advocate sheet, the 2021 is 50 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 27 percent Malbec, 17 percent Carmenere, and 6 percent Petit Verdot, fermented mostly in stainless steel with about 10 percent in oak foudre, then 22 months in 90 percent French barrels (70 percent new) and 10 percent foudres. Biodynamic fruit from Ocoa, about 40 kilometers inland from the Pacific. The point is Aconcagua finesse, not a warm-year jam.
About 10,000 cases, 1,500 imported. Wine Spectator's window runs through 2033. Dunnuck-level patience is rewarded.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Ribeye and lamb keep cassis, clove, and cocoa in front.
A Mondavi handshake that became Chile's first icon wine
Sena exists because Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi wanted a Chilean wine that could sit beside Opus One and first-growth Bordeaux.
They spent years hunting a site and landed in Ocoa, Aconcagua, where coastal air and mountain nights keep Cabernet fresh.
The 2004 Berlin Tasting put Sena on a table with Latour and Margaux. Chadwick bought Mondavi's share the same year.
The 2021 is that idea in a cooler vintage: 100 points, under 14% alcohol, priced so a cellar can actually buy it.
Char, cocoa, and a steakhouse plate
Cassis, clove, and fine tannin want browned beef and a little herb. Ribeye echoes the chocolate. Lamb takes the garrigue close.
Two plates. One butter-basted ribeye. One rosemary lamb chop. Both can take Sena tannin and spice.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Wide Cabernet bowls. Air is for rose petal and cocoa.
Butter-Basted Ribeye
A hard crust, butter, and thyme. Sena's steakhouse landing.
Why it works: Fat and char cushion Cabernet tannin while browned beef pulls cassis, clove, and cocoa through the glass.
View Recipe for butter-basted ribeye (opens in a new tab)
Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops
Herb-crusted lamb for Aconcagua Cabernet's garrigue, pepper, and silk.
Why it works: Lamb fat rounds the tannin. Rosemary echoes cedar, clove, and the light herbal close.
View Recipe for rosemary garlic lamb chops (opens in a new tab)Put this Sena in the cart
James Suckling 100, Wine Advocate 98, biodynamic Aconcagua. One hundred fifteen dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the Chilean icon for a cellar that wants 2021 finesse, not a warm-year slogan.
