Drink Date:
2024 - 2036
One of the finest vintages of the iconic Seña wine, the 2021 Seña comes from a cooler year, following the path of 2016 and 2018, certainly cooler than 2020 and 2019. It has a super expressive nose that is elegant, nuanced, perfumed, subtle and pure, with aromatic finesse, layered and complex. It was picked a couple of weeks later than in the previous two years and still keeping the alcohol below 14%. It was produced with a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Malbec (cooler years with more), 17% Carmenere and 6% Petit Verdot, fermented mostly in stainless steel and 10% in oak foudre. It's fine-grained and structured but juicy, similar to 2018 but with more finesse. It has the spicy/herbal twist from the Cabernet, ultra-refined tannins that give it great elegance and with length, purity and delineation. Superb! 120,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2023.
Seña has finished the redistribution and replanting of their vineyards after a soils study, using the new Malbecs and some Petit Verdot in the second wine, Rocas de Seña, with a base of Malbec with Cabernet and with some Mediterranean grapes (Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre). 2021 was a cooler year without high peaks in the summer, which is key, reasonable rain in winter and the good conditions for settling and cooler temperatures than the average in the summer. It's a healthy vintage, similar to 2016, with less rain and acidity and with a little more structure and concentration but with finesse and balance and a little slimmer than the 2018s. They harvested later than in 2020 and 2019. 2021 is the last harvest from winemaker Francisco "Pancho" Baettig, who is now dedicated to his personal project in the south but still working as a consultant for the Chadwick family after 20 years of dedication.
Published: Aug 31, 2023
2020 Seña
Rating
97
Release Price
$150
Drink Date
2023 - 2035
Reviewed by
Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date
31st Aug 2022
Source
Issue 262 End of August 2022, The Wine Advocate
The 2020 Seña is a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Malbec, 15% Carmenere and 7% Petit Verdot (a little higher in search of acidity) from grapes harvested early, the second week of March, and fermented mostly in stainless steel and 10% in concrete eggs. It has a moderate 13.5% alcohol and good freshness. It's subtle and layered, not only fruit but with more spice; it has polished tannins and very integrated oak after 22 months in barrique, 78% new, and with 10% of the volume in large Stockinger barrels. The warmer years seem to be nicely managed, so that it's not reflected in the ripeness but is more a matter of texture and quality of the tannins; in the warmer years, like 2017 or this 2019, the wines have a little more grip, but these are definitely finer than those from the 2017 vintage. This wine has intensity and complexity, with no mintiness or herbal notes; it's spicy and juicy, with energy and depth. It has structure, color, stuffing and acidity to develop nicely in bottle. 100,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2022.
I tasted the 2020s from Seña, as there is now a second wine, Rocas de Seña. 2020 had a very warm spring, while the summer was milder but with a warm end of the season, but they harvested in March. It wasn't as warm as 2017, but it's considered a warm year; and yields were higher, so the ripeness is more contained. The key to the vintage was availability of water: because it was a very dry year, those that had their own reservoirs were better off, and then the harvest date in April was extremely warm. 2020 was warmer than 2019, perhaps a finer and more elegant version of 2017, more in the style of 2012. The wines are now sold through the Bordeaux négoce.
