Seña

Eduardo Chadwick joined his father in the family wine business, Viña Errázuriz, in 1983. When family friend and vintner Agustín Huneeus asked him to show Robert Mondavi and his wife Margrit around the Chilean wine country, Chadwick spent a week showing Mondavi around central Chile in 1991, visiting wineries in the Aconcagua, Maipo and Colchagua valleys. For Mondavi, the model was a wine brand modelled on the first growths of Bordeaux. In 1995 the two created Seña as a joint venture, and in 1997 they released its first vintage, the 1995. The name Seña means 'sign', chosen as a signal to the world that Chile could develop world-class wines. In 2004, the year Constellation Brands bought the Robert Mondavi Corporation, Chadwick bought Mondavi's 50% share and took on sole ownership and management of Seña. Eduardo Chadwick is the owner of Viña Seña.

• 1983: Eduardo Chadwick joined his father in the family wine business, Viña Errázuriz
• 1991: Chadwick spent a week showing Robert Mondavi around central Chile
• 1995: Seña created as a joint venture between Chadwick and Mondavi; first vintage (1995) released in 1997
• 2004: Chadwick bought Mondavi's 50% share after Constellation Brands bought the Robert Mondavi Corporation

Emily Faulconer is Technical Director, and she signs the producer's notes on the 2022 and 2023 vintages of Seña and on Rocas de Seña 2022. Francisco Baettig was Seña's winemaker for the 2018 vintage, signed the note on the 2021 vintage and, as winemaker, discussed the first Rocas de Seña at a London tasting in September 2022. The winemakers for the 1997 vintage were Irene Paiva and Edward Flaherty. Eduardo González is Seña's vineyard manager. Eduardo Chadwick was named Decanter Man of the Year 2018.

• Eduardo Chadwick: owner of Viña Seña; Decanter Man of the Year 2018
• Emily Faulconer: Technical Director (2022 and 2023 vintages)
• Francisco Baettig: winemaker for the 2018 vintage; signed the 2021 vintage note
• Eduardo González: vineyard manager

Tim Mondavi and Eduardo Chadwick searched for the vineyard, and Tim insisted on a cooler site in order to make a fresher, more elegant wine than was the norm in the mid-1990s. After four years of searching the Aconcagua Valley from east to west, checking hundreds of soil pits and temperature variations, they found the land in Ocoa, in the mid-section of the valley, 40 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean; architect Juan Grimm took part in the vineyard design phase. The 42-hectare hillside vineyard was planted in 1998, primarily with Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère, along with Malbec, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Its position on the eastern side of the Coastal Mountains, facing away from the sea, protects the vines from the ocean's strong, cold winds, and the vineyard is protected by a ravine between two steep mountains. The vineyard lies over three main substrata: volcanic rocks (andesite and volcanic breccias) in the upper terraces, colluvium along the slopes, and alluvium carried along the ravine and by the Rabuco River at the bottom of the valley. The grapes for the 1997 were sourced from various parcels, and the first wine from the dedicated Seña vineyard was produced in 2001.

• 42 hectares on a hillside in Ocoa, Aconcagua Valley, 40 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean; planted in 1998
• Planted primarily with Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère, along with Malbec, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Cabernet Franc
• Substrata: volcanic rocks in the upper terraces, colluvium on the slopes, alluvium at the bottom of the valley
• First wine from the dedicated Seña vineyard produced in 2001

The vineyard has been farmed biodynamically since 2005. Sustainable practices and organic agriculture were introduced very early in the planning stages and development of the Seña vineyard. Seña's biodynamic cellar provides conditions of temperature, humidity, darkness and isolation for the preparations. Biodynamic preparation 500 is stored underground for use in the vineyard. Compost is applied to the vineyard, where it seeps into the ground over the winter. Seña's Biodynamic Garden has flowers and plants such as yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettle, dandelions and valerian, and sheep control weeds and fertilise the soil.

• Biodynamic since 2005
• Biodynamic preparation 500 stored underground for use in the vineyard
• Biodynamic Garden: yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettle, dandelions, valerian
• Sheep for weed control and fertilising the soil

Seña is a Bordeaux-style red blend led by Cabernet Sauvignon, with Carménère, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Cabernet Franc rounding out the blend. The first vintage, the 1995, was 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Carménère. The 1997 was fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged in 43% new barriques for 16 months; later vintages were given longer ageing in entirely new French oak. The 2001 was 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 4% Carménère; the 2018 was 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Malbec, 15% Carménère, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot; the 2021 was 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Malbec, 17% Carménère and 6% Petit Verdot; and the 2023 is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Malbec, 15% Carménère and 6% Petit Verdot. The wine is available through négociants on La Place de Bordeaux. Rocas de Seña, the second wine, takes its name from the rocky soils of the Aconcagua Valley and blends selected blocks of the Seña vineyard with Mediterranean varieties. Slightly fewer than 3,000 cases were made of the inaugural 2020 vintage, around half the annual production of Seña; its Syrah and Grenache came from a property in Vertientes close to the Seña vineyards. The 2022 Rocas de Seña is 33% Malbec, 25% Syrah, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot, 7% Mourvèdre and 5% Grenache.

• Seña 1995: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Carménère
• Seña 2021: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Malbec, 17% Carménère, 6% Petit Verdot
• Seña 2023: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Malbec, 15% Carménère, 6% Petit Verdot
• Rocas de Seña: second wine from the 2020 vintage; selected Seña blocks plus Mediterranean varieties

Inspired by the 1976 Judgment of Paris, Eduardo Chadwick invited Steven Spurrier to conduct a blind tasting in Berlin on 23 January 2004, at the Ritz-Carlton, setting Seña and other Chilean wines against Bordeaux and Super Tuscan wines. Of the 16 wines tasted, Viñedo Chadwick 2000 placed first and Seña 2001 second. Chadwick repeated the exercise 21 times, reaching 1,400 wine professionals, and followed it with a series of 10 blind tastings of past vintages, the 'Seña verticals', with a Seña wine ranked top on every occasion. Vertical tastings were held in Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei, including Hong Kong on 28 October 2011, and continued in 2012 in London, Zurich and five major cities in China. By 2017, the Seña 2015 had received a 100-point score from James Suckling. Decanter featured the Seña 1997 as a Wine Legend in 2020.

• Berlin Tasting, 23 January 2004, Ritz-Carlton: Viñedo Chadwick 2000 first, Seña 2001 second of 16 wines
• Repeated 21 times, reaching 1,400 wine professionals
• 10 Seña vertical tastings, with a Seña wine ranked top on every occasion

Seña calls itself 'a unique Bordeaux-style red blend with a very Chilean soul', in which Carménère 'clearly ties it to Chile'. Technical Director Emily Faulconer writes of the 2023 that 'its fine, polished tannins offer a fresh and elegant palate, with great persistence and balanced acidity'. Francisco Baettig called the 2021 'a restrained, vertical wine with a lot of juiciness, tension and fruit in the mouth.' Of Rocas de Seña, Baettig said: 'I did not want to make copy of Seña just with younger parcels [of vines], I wanted to give a personality to Rocas, which is why I used Malbec as a base instead of Cabernet.'

Seña offers three tours: the Biodynamic Tour, which runs Monday through Saturday for a minimum of 4 guests; the Mirador Tour; and the Seña Vertical Tour, whose vertical tasting spans 25 years, from the 1998 vintage to current releases. Each tour takes in the Garden and Biodynamic Centre and the soil pit before reaching the Mirador. Seña's Hilltop Mirador is a stone structure among the hills, set against a backdrop of the Andes and Mount Aconcagua.

Primary source (producer's own site): https://www.sena.cl/, including https://www.sena.cl/Chile-first-icon, https://www.sena.cl/The-Berlin-Tasting, https://www.sena.cl/Sena-Vertical-Tasting-Tour, https://www.sena.cl/The-Vineyard, https://www.sena.cl/On-The-Biodynamic-Path, https://www.sena.cl/Wines/sena/2023, https://www.sena.cl/Wines/rocas_de_sena/2022, https://www.sena.cl/News/Sena-2018-Awarded-Perfect-100-Points and https://www.sena.cl/Tours. Secondary sources: Decanter (Stephen Brook, 6 September 2020): https://www.decanter.com/learn/wine-legend-sena-1997-442800/; Decanter (Adam Lechmere): https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/errazuriz-takes-control-of-sena-and-arboleda-99305/; Decanter (Peter Richards MW, 28 February 2019): https://www.decanter.com/magazine/eduardo-chadwick-named-decanter-man-year-2018-385509/; The Drinks Business (Patrick Schmitt, 7 July 2021): https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2021/07/building-a-fine-wine-brand-the-story-of-chiles-sena/; The Drinks Business (Patrick Schmitt, 2 September 2022): https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2022/09/new-second-wine-for-chiles-sena-has-sold-out-already/. Last verified 2026-10-21. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.