Sena Wine Dinner

Sena, the Chilean premium wine, is a winery on the up, regularly beating Bordeaux first growth and super Tuscany in various blind tastings. In a recent wine dinner, we had the chance to look at its 08, 07, 04, 00, and 99 vintages. Interestingly, pre 2000 wines were made from purchased grapes, while post 2000 wines are made from a mixture of purchased grapes and those from its own young vineyard.

I came with a skeptic mind, but must admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of some of the vintages, and the multi-personalities of the wine - each vintage tasted like its from a different winery!

The hallmark of these wine is: ripeness, sweetness, youth accessibility, and craftsmanship - the prefect wine for the Hong Kong market!

2008 Sena - 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Carmenere,10% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc. Hot vintage conditions lead to early picking, and this was the most red-fruit driven and refreshing wine of the night. Rich, with concentrated red fruits, green capsicums, and chocolate on the nose. This is smooth, fine grained, and well-crafted in the mouth. Quite fresh, with lively acidities, a long and lingering finish, with expanding complexities. 4/5

2007 Sena - 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Carmenere, 12% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit VerdotWOTN for some, but I was not impressed. Dark fruits from grapes with prolonged hang-time, clumsy on the palate and out of balance on the finish… 3/5

2004 Sena - 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 6% Carmenere, 5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. Lightest. Some secondary developments. This is lightly sweet on the nose, some spices, and hint of plastic. Good freshness though on the palate, with some fine tannins and again, sweet and easy to drink. 3/5

2000 Sena - 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17.4% Merlot, 5.6% Carmenere. Tasted blind, I would have guessed that this is a matured Gruard Larose from a ripe vintage! Sweaty saddle and stalky. Sweet, deep, and with balancing acidities. Somewhat dries out on the finish, short, but pleasant. 3.5/5

1999 Sena - 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 8% Carmenere. The most classical of the wines. I found this excellent. Earthy, austere, and long. This will be the longest living wine out of the five despite it is the eldest vintage. 4/5

I am of the opinion that while stylistically different, Chile produces Cabernet and Co. on par with any country in the world in regard to quality. The difference is that there seem to be only a very few producers of high calibur in Chile while in Bordeaux or CA, there are many. Vinedo Chadwick, Almaviva, Sena, Don Melchor, Errazuriz, Santa Rita, maybe Montes come to mind.

Cheers,
Bill

I enjoyed this dinner at the Island Tang in Hong Kong central.

Canto food and Chilean wine? I can’t say it didn’t work.

2008 Sena- This had a striking nose of fresh bitumen with a good streak of ripe red fruits. Very modern and crafted feel on the palate, where I enjoyed the wine’s softness and early complexity. Very long finish, spicy and similar to the nose.

I don’t know Chilean wine but what I liked about this was it had a personality.

93pts+

2007 Sena- This is a very ripe monster with tarry black and blue fruits and licorice notes in the mix. Full bodied with a graphite texture, fresh and full, the fruit sucks up the new wood, lively acidity and the alcohol lifts a X-Mas cake like flavor persistence. Becomes hot and awkward.

I kept marking this wine down as it failed the drinkability test- I never wanted o finish my glass! I don’t know Chilean wine and what I didn’t like about this is it could be from anywhere and made to a modern formula.

88pts

2004 Sena- Pleasant red fruits and developed bitumen/vintage engine notes.Full, layered and spicy on the palate, long finish with a warm rise completing where the wine persists with fruit sweetness. Cocktail like.

91pts

**2000 Sena-**Varnishy on the nose, with some reticent red fruits and oak spices. Quite funky too. Medium bodied, supple and complete. Very enjoyable.

93pts

1999 Sena- Wild berries, savory and saucy. Quite piercing on the nose; capsicum? Very lovely on the palate where there are shades of fruit complexities in a number of spectrums- dark and lighter fruits, some meatiness and a spicy licorice like sweetness. Ultra-fine tannins carry on the finish.

92pts


As a lover of great Australian wine and seeing how misrepresented and stereotyped our wines became , I don’t know if this is a sustainable marketing approach.