BODEGA CHACRA
Rio Negro Valley, Patagonia, Argentina
Piero Incisa
In 2004, Piero Incisa della Rocchetta purchased the first of Bodega Chacra's vineyards, a property with an existing, though abandoned, vineyard planted in 1932 in the Rio Negro Valley in northern Patagonia. This vineyard of gnarled and ungrafted Pinot Noir vines was later added to a neighboring vineyard of vines planted in 1955. With these old vineyards, ostensibly in the middle of nowhere, Piero has created a winery that exists outside of the usual New World vs. Old World debate and is redefining what is possible with Pinot Noir (and now Chardonnay with the help of Jean-Marc Roulot) in the Southern Hemisphere.
“The flat, dry Río Negro Valley on the northern end of Patagonia won’t strike anybody as a glamorous wine region. For one thing, apple and pear orchards, along with platoons of poplar trees, far outnumber grapevines. For another, the restaurants, hotels and the usual camp followers of the winemaking life are nowhere to be found.
But glamour did not draw Piero Incisa della Rocchetta to the Río Negro. The old pinot noir vines did, along with promising soils, a sparkling climate and a dream of creating a self-sustaining wine estate the way his grandfather the Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta did in Italy 50 years ago. The marchese created Sassicaia, a paradigm-breaking cabernet blend that proved greatness could be achieved in Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast.”
— ERIC ASIMOV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
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Bodega Chacra is located in the Rio Negro Valley of northern Patagonia. The property's location in the arid central Argentine desert is tempered by the confluence of the Neuquen and Limay Rivers, both of which flow from the Andes and converge in the Rio Negro, which in turn flows into the Atlantic.
The climate is dry, with a maximum humidity of thirty percent and an average of seven inches of rainfall annually. This aridity, coupled with the natural barrier of the surrounding desert, results in a complete absence of phylloxera and vine diseases.
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The soil of the Rio Negro Valley, an ancient riverbed composed of limestone, sand, and clay, coupled with the Valley's pristine pollution-free air and tremendous luminosity, make for ideal conditions to grow Pinot Noir.
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The team at Chacra understands farms as complex living organisms and approach agriculture with a focus on the balance between overall development and the relationship between soils, plants and animals to maintain a system of self nutrition, avoiding extrinsic intervention whenever possible and keeping in mind that any food exiting from the estate represents a loss of its nutrients.
Artificial fertilizers and toxic pesticides and herbicides are categorically prohibited. Biodynamic agriculture’s uniqueness lies in the use of vegetable and mineral preparations that are added to compost and aerosols for the land, as well as in the use of a sowing and planting calendar based on the movement of the stars.
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In the cellar, maceration and the start of fermentation happen in small, round tanks of little depth and great width to maximize skin contact. The team works delicately and without excessive extraction, in order to obtain a balanced and elegant expression. Indigenous yeast fermentation in small cement tanks. Purification of the wines is made by natural decantation, without filtering, the intention being to preserve the products’ natural aromas. They use French oak, extra fine grain barrels, which are dry aged for thirty six months. 32 and 55 and Sin Azufre are aged in barrels of second wine.
Wines
Pinot Noir “Barda”
Barda is the local term for “eroded steep slope” Often perceived as the “village level” Pinot Noir at Chacra, Barda is sourced from the estate’s “youngest vines” planted in the 1990s. The vines are ungrafted, from an original massale selection on sandy calcareous soils presenting a more high toned aromatic component in the wine.
Barda is fermented in equal parts concrete and French oak, 15% of which is new followed by an 11 month elévage.
Unfined/unfiltered with minimal sulphur.
Pinot Noir “Cincuenta y Cinco"
Cincuenta y Cinco comes from three vineyards totaling 7 hectares, planted in 1955 which gently rest on a sea of pebbles, typical in riverbed soils. Soils are clay, sand, limestone and alluvial covered in calcerous matter. It is fermented with its whole bunches at very low temperatures, enhancing the floral characteristics of the wine. It is essential 50% whole cluster with the rest of the stems used to make the pied de cuve. Cincuenta y Cinco has the most tension of all of Piero's wines. It is aged in a combination of neutral oak barrels and 4000 liter cement vats. (60/40; cement/old oak).
Pinot Noir “Trienta y Dos"
Treinta y Dos is a single vineyard wine coming from a two hectare vineyard of old vines planted in 1932. The soil is layered with clay, sand, and pebbles. Treinta y Dos is the most structured of all Piero's Pinot Noirs.
It is aged in a combination of neutral oak barrels and 4000 liter cement vats. (60/40; cement/old oak) The elevage is slightly longer than the ’55.
Pinot Noir “Sin Azufre"
Sin Azufre is a handcrafted personal project by Piero himself. It is an experiment of making wine without science, using only the eyes, nose, palette, and reasoning as tools. These organic and biodynamic grapes are harvested from a special section of the Cincuenta y Cinco vineyard. In 600L barrels, the fermentation begins spontaneously on day 3 to 5 of maceration. At the end of the fermentation cycle (usually 15 to 21 days), the must is placed in used barrels for 11 months, without the inclusion of pressed wine.
Pinot Noir,"Lunita"
Pinot Noir from an old, un-grafted, tiny vineyard of 1.5 hectares that the Chacra team has slowly brought back to life over the last 13 years. The vineyard sits on the middle part of the valley and has an equal amount of calcarious material, sand pebbles, and clay. Previously, the grapes were blended into Barda but more recently they decided to ferment it separately. Fermented by infusion. 50% of the elevage is done in used oak barrels and the remainder 50% is fermented in cement.
Mainqué Chardonnay
Starting with the 2017, Bodega Chacra opened a new chapter in their winery’s history. Piero, in partnership with Jean-Marc Roulot of Domaine Roulot in Meursault, began producing Chardonnays alongside his Pinot Noirs.
The Mainqué Chardonnay is a selection of three parcels in sandier soil with a combination of sand, clay, pebbles, and pebbles covered in calcareous matter. The wine is fermented in 25/30% new barrels (the same barrels Jean-Marc Roulot uses in Meursault) and does not go completely through malo.
Chacra Chardonnay
Chacra Chardonnay comes from a single vineyard with 40 year old vines in mineral soils with alluvial stones covered in calcaire. It was fermented in barrel with 100% malolactic, spending eleven months in barrels.