Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 29/02/2012 Eduardo Chadwick’s 2008 Sena is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Carmenere, 10% Merlot, with the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. It offers up an enthralling, already complex bouquet of sandalwood, exotic spices, incense, red licorice, black currant, and blackberry. Velvety-textured, layered, and structured, it deftly combines power and elegance in a wine that mandates another 5-6 years of cellaring. It will deliver prime drinking from 2016 to 2028+.

The 2008 Sena has a cool, reserved bouquet of blackberry, raspberry leaf, crushed stone and a touch of Margaux-like violets. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannins, crisp acidity and a symmetrical, rather stern, minerally finish, tobacco lingering on the aftertaste. Drink now-2018. Sena is the peripatetic wine that goes around the world challenging and, let it be said, often defeating First Growths in blind tastings. I will not enter into a discussion about that here, although it must be said that Sena is an impressive wine. Tasting through this mini-vertical from almost the first vintage, I did find a distinct improvement from 2007 onwards. While I understand that older vintages have their share of plaudits, I discerned more complexity and vitality as well as finer integration of oak on newer vintages, as if more thought had gone into the wines. The result can be seen in the wines themselves, in particular the outstanding 2010. Importer: Thienot USA; www.thienotusa.com