Bodega Chacra
Bodega Chacra is Piero Incisa della Rochetta's personal project in Rio Negro, Argentina (Patagonia). It mainly produces Pinot Noir, made by the highly-regarded winemaker Hans Vinding Diers. In 2004 Piero Incisa purchased the first of the Chacra vineyards, an abandoned plot planted in 1932. This single vineyard of gnarled Pinot Noir vines, planted on their own rootstocks, is head trained and produces tiny bunches of small, concentrated berries. Two more sites soon followed, one vineyard planted with Pinot Noir in 1955 and another in 1967. A fourth vineyard was then planted on the site of the original 1932 vineyard, using only rootstocks taken from both the 1932 and 1955 plots. This last vineyard is the basis for the 'Barda' wine, together with deselected grapes and wines from the single vineyard plots. The gravels and coarse alluvial pebbles, with a significant limestone content in the soils, together with a fresh, dry climate and great luminosity, allow for the minimum treatment in the vineyard and allowing for biodynamic practices to be followed, which combined with a green harvest in January yields are kept very low. Harvested manually, the wines are fermented naturally in large round cement vats (Piero calls them his 'Bentleys') with the minimum of intervention before being put into Burgundian oak barrels of which about twenty percent are new. Malolactic fermentation takes place naturally in barrel over the course of the following six months, and the wines are then left undisturbed on their lees before being bottled without any fining or filtration.
Other reviews and comments
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Rio Negro Patagonia Argentina
Chacra's newest release is this beautifully crafted Merlot, named after the village of Mainqué where the Chacra vineyards are planted. These vines are planted alongside the 1955 Pinot Noir vineyard, and undergo exactly the same biodynamic care and attention.
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Rio Negro Patagonia Argentina
The 2010 Barda Pinot Noir is simply fabulous, and as Piero Incisa states, not only the best wine he has made to date, but also exactly where he wants it to be in terms of style and quality. This is more elegant, and paler than in previous vintages yet with a fresh intensity that gives great length. Its drinkability is even more enhanced by the significant drop in alcohol to only 12%. Perfect with Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey!
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Rio Negro Patagonia Argentina
Chacra's newest release is this beautifully crafted Merlot, named after the village of Mainqué where the Chacra vineyards are planted. These vines are planted alongside the 1955 Pinot Noir vineyard, and undergo exactly the same biodynamic care and attention. The wine is deep in colour, richly textured, with notes of sweet cherries, black pepper and a lovely soft finish. Very classy. Excellent value too.
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Rio Negro Patagonia Argentina
From Chacra's six hectare 1955 vineyard, vinified in whole bunches and given less than 20% new oak, this is so beautifully textured (in the same vein as Thibault Liger-Belair's wines) with rich berry fruit, it is still reserved at first but then builds to a wonderful crescendo on the finish.