Tobacco and cigar box, soft brushed leather, with touches of white pepper spice and white truffle. This was a hot year in Aconcagua, and there are clear tertiary notes here, but it has freshness and power and is a delicious wine. One that makes you smile, and makes you want to share. Stretches out through the palate also, plenty of mineralty on the finish, it sets the pace and it delivers. No need to rush to drink - a fine example of how well Seña can age, and interesting to see this library vintage coming through La Place de Bordeaux, with the latest release still planned for September.

A wine at its peak, with an interplay of red fruit and nuanced tertiary notes of prune, dried fig, petrichor and Earl Grey tea. The robust acid line brings some primary fruit to the fore, with refreshing notes of red plum, cranberry and raspberry. Subtle smokiness throughout, reminiscent of cigar box and peated whisky. Long finish, albeit a bit drying.

The 2009 Sena has an exuberant bouquet of blackberry, boysenberry, menthol, crushed stone and graphite that is extremely well defined and more feminine than the 2008. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, taut tannins and superb focus. It has a focused, leafy, tobacco infused finish and great length. Excellent. Drink 2014-2020. 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

Aged in new oak for 22 months, the 2009 Sena drinks impressively well at 15 years old, opening with a red-fruited, pretty, vibrant nose with lifted accents of dried mint, tobacco and cedar. The palate is rich yet understated, with a candied, pure, layered finish framed by powdery, structuring tannins and toasty, creamy, integrated remnants of new oak. While this is very much informed by the winemaking practices of the times, it has aged impressively well and should continue to perform well over the next five or so years. The blend is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Carménère, 16% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc.

54% Cabernet Sauvignon (picked third week of April), 21% Carmenère (picked first week of May), 16% Merlot (picked third week of March), 6% Petit Verdot (picked second week of April), 3% Cabernet Franc (picked third week of May). TA 5.94 g/l, pH 3.36, RS 2.94 g/l. Fruit from their Seña hillside vineyard, 41 km from the Pacific Ocean. The colluvial soils have different textures and stone content. At lower altitudes the stone content is lower (0–10%) and higher up, stone content ranges from 30–70%. Elevation of 290–500m. Low rainfall during the growing season and a warm, dry summer. Hand-picked and sorted by hand. Stainless-steel fermentation, three pumpovers per day. Total maceration time ranged from 20–40 days. Aged for 22 months in 100% new French oak barrels. Mid crimson. Real freshness on the nose as well as ripeness. Great drive and interest. All melded together into a most impressive whole. A slightly sudden finish but a huge step up compared with the rest of the first 21st-century decade vintages. (JR)