Bodega Chacra

Chacra is located in the Rio Negro Valley of northern Patagonia, 620 miles south of Buenos Aires. It is roughly equidistant from the Andes and the Atlantic.

In 2004, Piero Incisa della Rocchetta of the renowned winemaking family responsible for the creation and success of Tenuta San Guido (Sassicaia), purchased the first of vineyard land, which is now Chacra. At the time the property contained an existing, albeit abandoned vineyard planted over seventy years ago in 1932. Piero was called from his multigenerational Italian winemaking family to the southern hemisphere, compelled by the goal to produce world-class Pinot Noir from uncharted territory.

This singular vineyard at Chacra is of thick, pure, gnarled Pinot Noir vines, plants from their own rootstock producing tiny bunches of small, concentrated berries which are harvested by hand. No automation or mechanization is employed at any stage of the production process. The grapes are refrigerated to preserve the freshness of their fruit, and then hand de-stemmed and sorted before being moved to cement tanks for fermentation.

Winemaking continues at Chacra with an organic and biodynamic approach, in the most natural manner and the first wine vinified at the estate is “Treinta y Dos.” When the alcoholic fermentation is complete, the wine is transferred off the skins into small French oak barrels in the most gentle manner possible, by gravity, without pressing or filtering. Bottling takes place around the first week of March without fining or filtration. The objective is for the oak, the fruit and the nuances of the soil to marry perfectly so that the influence of the wood is nearly imperceptible in the wine and the vine and character of the land are expressed to their fullest.

Official Website: http://www.bodegachacra.com/