A phenomenal red with aromas of blackberry, licorice, sandalwood and hot stones turns to cigar box and hints of sweet tea. Full body, with incredible depth and concentration yet agile and playful. Long and fascinating. It talks to you. Balanced. The greatest Seña ever. (Winemaker and owner agree.) Perhaps it was the touch of malbec to the blend but there's wonderful purity and beauty. Made from biodynamically grown grapes. Better in 2017.

The 2012 Sena is from a cool vineyard on a rocky hillside with some clay, in the middle of the Aconcagua Valley, where there is still some influence from the Pacific Ocean. This wine has always been a blend, and in 2012 it is half Cabernet Sauvignon, complemented by Carmenere, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. Bright and focused, with a nose mixing red fruit, it is also bright-colored, with ripe black fruit and balsamic notes in the shape of tobacco and cedar wood, with a medium-bodied palate, very good freshness and acidity, sophisticated, polished and fine-grained tannins. This is still a baby, but the silky texture makes it accessible now, while the complexity should come with more time. Drink 2015-2022. Sena’s hillside vineyard is on the cooler side of the Aconcagua valley (the limit to ripen Cabernet and Carmenere), extending over 45 hectares planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Syrah. The colluvial soils on the valley’s slopes contain a variety of textures and stone proportions, resulting in a great diversity of well-drained gravel, rock and loam. The backbone of the wine is Cabernet Carmenere, complemented with the other grapes. In the 1990s, Eduardo Chadwick visited Napa, where he met Robert Mondavi. Mondavi visited Chile in 1993 and Eduardo was the one to drive him around. Mondavi was delighted with the potential he saw, but there was really no quality wine to show the world the potential of Chile. It was a 50/50 joint venture to make a blend including Carmenere to give it a Chilean character. In 2005, Eduardo Chadwick bought Mondavi’s 50 percent, and since then it’s been a Chadwick family winery, worked biodinamically since 2005. Imported by Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700; www.frederickwildman.com

52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Carmenère, 12% Merlot, 7% Malbec, 6% Petit Verdot. A moderately warm growing season with low rainfall meant very healthy grapes. Hand-picked and sorted by hand. Stainless-steel fermentation, three pumpovers per day. Total maceration time ranged from 9–40 days. Aged for 22 months in French oak barrels (70% new). Deep crimson. Really quite restrained on the nose. Still lots of acidity and a little bit of leafiness. Just a little austere. Maybe a tad too much Carmenère for comfort? Oak still a little evident on the palate. (JR)