An iconic decision is made from the heart. Following the sign of his intuition, in 1995 Eduardo Chadwick pioneered a joint venture with Robert Mondavi to handcraft a world-class Chilean wine. Chadwick searched alongside Mondavi for four long years before finding the ideal terroir in Chile’s Valle de Aconcagua that spoke to their instincts. Seña is the culmination of their vision – an expression of consummate quality and character.
To maximize quality, the fruit is handpicked exclusively in the morning and brought to the winery in 12 kg boxes. The grapes are then carefully selected on sorting tables and all extraneous plant material, leaves, and stems are removed to ensure fine fruit character in the final blend. The grapes are mostly fermented in stainless steel tanks at temperatures ranging from 24° to 30°C (75°–86°F), depending on the variety and seasonal conditions (microbiological load, and alcohol potential), to achieve the desired level of extraction. 6% of the must are fermented in first-use French oak barrels to increase the complexity of the blend. During fermentation, 3 pump overs are performed daily at 0.5 to 1.5 times the tank volume, in accordance with the degree of extraction desired.
Total maceration time range from 20 to 33 days for Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Carmenere and 6 to 8 days for Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, depending on the development of each individual lot.
The new wine then racked to 100% French new oak barrels from a selection of the finest cooperages is aged for 22 months, during which time most of the malolactic fermentation takes place.