Seña

The winery

Seña grew out of the friendship between Eduardo Chadwick, who had run his family's winery, Errázuriz, since 1983, and the Californian Robert Mondavi, with whom he toured Chile's valleys in 1991. In 1995 the two signed a partnership to make a Chilean wine that could stand alongside the world's greats: the first vintage, 1995, reached the market in 1997 and is considered the country's first icon wine. The name means just that, a sign (seña) of what Chile could achieve. At the 2004 Berlin Tasting, a blind tasting led by Steven Spurrier, Seña 2001 came second, ahead of great wines from Bordeaux and Tuscany. Today Seña belongs to the Chadwick family and is part of Viñedos Familia Chadwick, alongside Errázuriz, Viñedo Chadwick, Caliterra and Arboleda.

The estate's own vineyard came after a four-year search along the Aconcagua Valley, studying soil pits and temperatures. Tim Mondavi and Eduardo Chadwick chose Ocoa, in the middle section of the valley and about 40 km from the Pacific, a corner sheltered by a ravine and surrounded by native forest. There, in 1998, they planted 42 hectares on the hillside, laid out by landscape architect Juan Grimm, over volcanic rock on the upper terraces, colluvium on the slopes and alluvium at the foot. Since 2005 the vineyard has been farmed biodynamically, a shift made under the guidance of Alan York: homemade compost and preparations, a garden of the plants used to make them, and sheep and alpacas grazing between the rows. Seña is a Bordeaux-style blend with Carménère; the 2023 is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Malbec, 15% Carménère and 6% Petit Verdot, aged 18 months in French oak barrels and foudres (large casks). Winemaker and technical director Emily Faulconer is in charge of Seña and of Rocas de Seña, the second wine, which adds Syrah, Garnacha and Mourvèdre.

In August 2026 Seña opened its vineyard to the public for the first time. All three tours start on a terrace facing the vines, pass through the garden and the biodynamic center, go down into a soil pit to see the ground up close and end with a tasting at the Mirador, a stone-and-timber building inspired by Andean pukaras (hilltop fortresses), with views over the valley and Mount Aconcagua. The Tour Biodinámico tastes Rocas de Seña and Seña; the Tour Mirador adds an older vintage, and the Tour Seña Vertical runs through vintages going back to 1998. Book online, in Spanish, English or Portuguese, for groups of at least four, and add a paired lunch if you like. The wines are sold online through Housebar.