Bodega Chacra Chardonnay, Rio Negro, Argentina 2024
Chacra was created in 2004 by Piero Incisa della Rocchetta, whose grandfather started the legendary Sassicaia Winery in Tuscany.. 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. Pieros’ intention was to find the most unobstructed expression of the climate, micro-climate, and terroir of Mainqué in the Río Negro region of Patagonia. In Patagonia, a “chacra” is a special piece of land separated by canals that bring snowmelt from the Andes and make the Patagonian desert fertile.
Done in collaboration with Jean-Marc Roulot, is produced from 40 year old vines in mineral soils with alluvial stones covered in calcaire. The wine is intense and energetic, high pitched and lively, round and austere, refined and mineral. It has a dry mouthfeel and a saltiness natural to the area.
"Sourced from silt-dominated soils, the 2024 Chacra Chardonnay opens with an immediately inviting and complex bouquet melding marshmallow, saline and citrus notes with ever-increasing definition and harmony. The palate echoes with a deep, velvety, effortless richness perfectly counterbalanced by a chalky, lifted, tangy energy. It concludes with a multidimensional, bright, mineral-drenched finish further elongated by additional rounds of stony intensity without ever veering into sharp or angular territory. It's an impressive, crystalline and simply delicious expression of Patagonia." Wine Advocate 96
