BODEGA CHACRA
Cincuenta y Cinco Pinot Noir
2013
- Organic
- Biodynamic
About this winery
Located in the Rio Negro Valley in northern Patagonia, Bodega Chacra is nestled between the Andes Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 1000 kilometers south of Buenos Aires. Founded by Piero Incisa della Rocchetta, descendant of the renowned Italian family, Chacra arose from his passion for fine wines and exploration of promising terroirs in Argentina. Since the 2000s, Chacra has focused on crafting exceptional Pinot Noir, benefiting from the dry climate and limestone-rich soils that...
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Product notes
Since acquisition of the 1932 vineyard, Piero Incisa has discovered and purchased two other old vine Pinot Noir vineyards which will produce two further Bodega Chacra single-vineyard wines beginning in the 2006 vintage. The first, from a vineyard planted in 1955, will be called "Cinquenta y Cinco."
Production notes
The berries are placed whole, without crushing, in the fermentation vat, where the weight of the grapes near the top of the vat crushes some of those at the bottom of the vat. This method, which shares similarities with carbonic maceration, allows the wine to express the subtle, complex and finely textured tannins characteristic of very old vines. Fermentation is initiated spontaneously by indigenous yeasts, and lasts approximately three weeks at an average temperature of 78.8F (26C). During fermentation, a layer of carbon dioxide blankets the surface of the cap, which is neither pumped over nor punched down. Once the alcoholic fermentation is complete, the wine is transferred off the skins into small Burgundian oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation begins spontaneously once the wine is in barrel, and is completed in roughly six months. A small amount of free sulfur is then added to kill any stray yeasts or bacteria.