Summary
Bodega Chacra is the best-known Pinot Noir estate in Patagonia and one of the most exciting projects in South America. It was founded in 2004 by Piero Incisa della Rocchetta, grandson of Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who created the legendary Sassicaia in Tuscany. In the Alto Valle of the Río Negro he found an almost forgotten vineyard of ungrafted Pinot Noir vines planted in 1932 – the foundation of an estate that now farms biodynamically and makes wines of remarkable finesse, freshness and transparency. Since 2017, a Chardonnay made in partnership with Burgundian Jean-Marc Roulot has completed the range.
History
Piero Incisa della Rocchetta grew up with wine: his family is behind Tenuta San Guido in Bolgheri, where his grandfather proved with Sassicaia that great wines can come from unexpected places. Looking for a project of his own, Piero travelled to Patagonia in the early 2000s.
In the Río Negro valley he came across a neglected vineyard of ungrafted Pinot Noir vines planted as early as 1932. The old vines yielded so little that even the owner reportedly tried to talk him out of buying it. Piero bought the parcel anyway and founded Bodega Chacra in 2004 – in Argentina, a chacra is a small farm. Further old vineyards followed in the years after, including plantings from 1955. In 2016 the partnership with Jean-Marc Roulot of Meursault began; the first joint Chardonnay is from the 2017 vintage.
Location & Terroir
Chacra lies in Mainqué in the Alto Valle of the Río Negro, in northern Patagonia. The valley is a green oasis in the middle of the steppe, known above all for its fruit orchards. The climate is extremely dry: only around 180 mm of rain falls each year, humidity is low and sunlight intense. Large differences between day and night temperatures preserve the grapes' acidity and aromatic precision, while the constant Patagonian wind keeps the vines healthy.
The soils are the legacy of an ancient riverbed: gravel and pebbles, sand, clay and calcareous elements. Because the surrounding desert acts as a natural barrier, phylloxera never reached the valley – which is why the vines have survived without rootstocks, ungrafted, on their original massal selection.
Style & Philosophy
Piero Incisa della Rocchetta sees Chacra as a living ecosystem. The vineyards are farmed biodynamically and organically – without synthetic fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides, with biodynamic preparations, the estate's own beehives and plenty of manual work. In the cellar, restraint is the rule: spontaneous fermentation, used wooden barrels, sometimes amphorae and concrete, minimal intervention.
Stylistically, Chacra aims for the opposite of the powerful, fruit-driven New World Pinot. The wines are light-footed, fresh and finely built, with red fruit, spice and a mineral tension often compared to Burgundy. The Chardonnay follows the same idea: it matures in used barrels from Roulot's domaine in Meursault and shows precision rather than opulence.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range is named after the planting years of the vineyards:
- Treinta y Dos – Pinot Noir from the roughly two-hectare vineyard planted in 1932, the estate's flagship
- Cincuenta y Cinco – Pinot Noir from ungrafted vines planted in 1955
- Barda – the most accessible Pinot Noir, mainly from younger vines planted in the 1990s
- Sin Azufre – a Pinot Noir without added sulphur, Piero's personal experiment
- Mainqué Chardonnay and Chacra Chardonnay – made together with Jean-Marc Roulot
Treinta y Dos and Cincuenta y Cinco are among the most sought-after and highest-rated Pinot Noirs in South America.
Awards
Chacra regularly receives high scores from international critics and wine publications and is cited by many as the benchmark for Argentine Pinot Noir. Even more than individual scores, its impact counts: the estate has shown that Patagonia – and especially the Río Negro valley with its old, ungrafted vines – can produce elegant, age-worthy Pinot Noir of world class.
