2024 Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir Patagonia - Cincuenta y Cinco

Twenty-plus years ago Piero Incisa della Rocchetta, grandson of Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, creator of the famed Super-Tuscan wine Sassicaia, happened to taste a pinot noir from the Río Negro province of Patagonia, Argentina. That wine inspired a trip to the region, which convinced Piero that this was where his future lay. In 2003 he purchased an abandoned vineyard in the village of Mainqué, and Bodega Chacra was born. Piero later was joined by the esteemed white Burgundy producer Jean-Marc Roulot for the planting, farming, and vinification of chardonnay. In Patagonia, a “chacra” is a special piece of land suited to fruit-growing; of course the name also evokes the meditation focal points of Hinduism and Buddhism. Farming is certified organic and biodynamic*. 

So, yes, Bodega Chacra is a star-studded, Italian- and French-inflected winery in Argentina. But the wines deliver, and not in an overblown, pedal-to-the-metal, look-at-me way. 'Cincuenta y Cinco' is 100% pinot noir from vineyards planted in 1955 on pebbly soils laid down by an old riverbed. Whole-cluster, indigenous fermentation was followed by 11 months of élevage, half in concrete tanks and half in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th passage French oak barrels. The wine was bottled unfiltered and is only 11% alcohol. Whole-cluster lift and an elegant herbaceousness accompany delicate red fruits, a ferrous note, and discreet floral perfume. It’s seductive and elegant, with great pinot noir texture, complexity, and length. Drink it in a Burgundy stem with duck, salmon, or mushroom dishes. It also will repay 5-10 years of aging, as a PMW customer reported recently after drinking an older bottle at a wine dinner.