Bodega Chacra 'Sin Azufre' 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.

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 barriques for 11 months, without the inclusion of pressed wine. Sin Azufre characteristics are soft, balanced, lively, transparent, and extremely energetic with pronounced minerality and well integrated soft tannins. Pairs universally.