Bodega Chacra 'Cincuenta y Cinco 55' Pinot Noir, Rio Negro, Argentina 2023

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.

Cincuenta y Cinco comes from vineyards planted in 1955 which gently rest on a sea of pebbles, typical in riverbed soils. It is fermented whole cluster at very low temperatures, enhancing the floral characteristics of the wine. Cincuenta y Cinco has the highest amount of tension of all the Chacra wines while it still retains a comfortable ease. There is a wonderful purity in this wine with dried strawberry and iodine. This refined red mixes crushed bilberry and cherry fruit with undertones of smoke, game and mineral. A fine length.