La Place de Bordeaux Autumn Offers: 2021 Seña (100 pts, JS) £560 per six
This morning's release of 2021 Seña may well be the most exciting wine to be offered on the Bordeaux Place this autumn, with a perfect 100-point score from James Suckling and priced at just £560 per six.
We tasted the new vintage in London yesterday with Pepa Chadwick, granddaughter of Eduardo Chadwick, who founded Seña with Robert Mondavi, and we loved its glossy texture and the cool, elegant style of the vintage. If you have yet to diversify your cellar to include top wines from the Americas, we strongly suggest starting with this new release.
First produced in 1995, Seña gained international attention at the 'Tasting Of Berlin' in 2004. Eduardo Chadwick took a gamble and won, pitting his 2001 vintage blind against First Growths including Lafite, Margaux and Latour and Super Tuscans including Sassicaia and Tignanello. Since then, Seña has routinely achieved excellent scores, but the 2021 is a standout success, also scoring 98+ points from The Wine Advocate.
Alongside the 2021, we tasted Seña's 2015 vintage, which seemed to us still in its infancy, but was beginning to show the same complex layers and nuances of secondary development that we would expect to find in Bordeaux First Growths. The 2021 is a blend of 50% cabernet sauvignon, 27% malbec, 17% carmenere and 6% petit verdot, grown on a 42-hectare vineyard on a hillside in the Aconcagua Valley. Aged for 22 months in 90% French oak barrels and 10% foudres, the final abv is 14%, but the 2021 is full of freshness and finely delineated fruit and floral aromas and flavours. Enjoyable when young, this vintage will also cellar beautifully for several decades.
Also released this morning, Rocas de Seña is not a second wine as such, but is Seña's junior sibling, made to the same high level, but from a blend of 35% Malbec, 21% Syrah, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Grenache, 9% Petit Verdot and 5% Mourvedre. We found the initial palate on the 2021 Rocas de Seña to be as impressive as the 'grand vin' itself, and only the intention (to make a wine for earlier drinking) sets it apart in quality from Seña.
Availability of both wines is extremely limited, so please let us know straight away if you would like to order.
Offered en primeur, available spring 2024.
| RED | 2021 | Sena | 75cl | £560 per case of 6 | Sena 2021 / / 75cl £560 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes“The 2021 Seña is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with 27% Malbec, 17% Carménère and 6% Petit Verdot from Ocoa in the Aconcagua Valley. It was aged for 22 months, 90% in French oak barrels (70% new) and 10% in foudres. Purple with a garnet sheen. The nose presents vivid redcurrant and blackcurrant notes with a layer of garrigue against a cigar box backdrop. Dry in the mouth, refreshing acidity stirs up finely grained tannins to channel the palate. A lingering, fruity red that will grow in the bottle. 96 points" Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous.com ------“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 to2018 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. 98 points" Luis Gutiérrez, RobertParker.com------"“You can’t escape the conclusions of the vintage,” says Francisco Baettig and he’s right about this latest release of Seña, which ranks alongside the best recent iterations of this Chilean icon, every bit as good as the 2018 in my view. Deftly curated in 70% new oak, it’s a masterclass in blending from a great winemaker, partnering Cabernet Sauvignon with 27% Malbec (increased because of the cooler vintage), 17% Carmenère and 6% Petit Verdot. Fresh, perfume and self-assured, it’s still a very primary wine with a long life ahead of it, combining subtle coffee bean notes with plenty of fresh acidity, bramble, blueberry and blackcurrant leaf flavours and a hint of fine, stony reduction. 98 points" Tim Atkin------“An extremely pure and elegant vintage for Seña. This is really fresh, nimble and floral on the nose with subtle cherries, plums, redcurrants and wild lavender. More red fruit here with lots of layers and just a touch of sweet spice. Very discreet and subtle, with the elegance, freshness and poise you’d expect from 2021. Medium- to full-bodied on the palate with a bit more flesh and depth if you compare it with Roca de Seña, their second wine. The impeccable tannins show the supreme quality of the fruit this year. Persistent, seamless finish, but comes in a subtle way. 50% cabernet sauvignon, 27% malbec, 17% carmenere and 6% petit verdot. Effortlessly drinkable now, but it will age beautifully. 100 points" jamessuckling.com |
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| RED | 2021 | Sena | Magnum | £624 per case of 3 | Sena 2021 / / Magnum £624 per case of 3 |
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| RED | 2021 | Sena - Rocas de Sena | 75cl | £240 per case of 6 | Sena Rocas de Sena 2021 / / 75cl £240 per case of 6 |
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Tasting Notes“The 2021 Rocas de Seña is a blend of 35% Malbec, 21% Syrah, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Grenache, 9% Petit Verdot, and 5% Mourvèdre from Ocoa in the Aconcagua Valley. It was aged for 22 months, 95% in French oak barrels (40% new) and 5% in concrete eggs. Purple in hue. The complex nose presents pomegranate and fresh plum notes with hints of sage, garrigue and flowers over a faint bed of ash. Dry and smooth in the mouth, refreshing acidity supports polished, juicy tannins. A balanced wine of lingering fruity flavor. Quite young right now, it will grow in the bottle. 93 points" Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous.com ------“The second vintage of their second wine, the 2021 Rocas de Seña is less opulent and with more tension and floral aromas (but with power too) than the 2020. It was produced with a blend of 35% Malbec, 21% Syrah, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Grenache, 9% Petit Verdot and, for the first time, 5% Mourvedre. Grenache and Mourvedre were planted in 2005 on the family's other property that was first planted in 1999 with Syrah. It's a little below the 14% alcohol stated on the label. It fermented mostly in stainless steel and some concrete eggs for the Garnacha, and it aged separately before being blended, lowering the total time in barrel to 18 to20 months. It's floral, perfumed, elegant and expressive, with herbal freshness and a spicy twist from the barrels. The palate is fine-boned, balanced and elegant. You notice the different aromatic and gustative palette when tasted next to Seña, with fine-grained, chalky tannins. This is a noteworthy second label with drinkability and aging capability. 50,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2023. 94 points" Luis Gutiérrez, RobertParker.com------"This is the second release of Rocas and it’s a definite step up on the 2020, reflecting the cooler, better balanced growing season. Including 5% Mourvèdre for the first time, it’s a Bordeaux-meets-the-Mediterranean blend of Malbec with 24% Syrah, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Grenache and 9% Petit Verdot. The 40% new oak is well handled, framing a deeply coloured, nuanced palate of cassis, blackberry and chocolate, embellished by notes of violet and sweet spices, fine-grained tannins and a bright, refreshing finish. 94 points" Tim Atkin------“Very racy, vibrant and intense with a heap of pure red fruit, full of strawberries, red cherries and a hint of spice, flowers and blue fruit. A subtle twist of mineral, too. Medium-bodied, linear, long and subtle on the palate, sandwiched by very fine, polished tannins. Precision and purity are the words. Elegant and slightly austere with a very long, subtle finish. 35% malbec, 21% syrah, 20% cabernet sauvignon, 10% grenache, 9% petit verdot and 5% mourvedre. 50,000 bottles made, which is a little more than the 2020 vintage. Drink or hold. 96 points" jamessuckling.com |
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