Bodega Chacra Cincuenta y Cinco 55
Grape Varietals and Region: This is a 100% bottle of Pinot Noir with a wonderful purity. Located in the Rio Negro Valley of northern Patagonia. Founded in 2004 by Piero Incisa della Rocchetta, the man has dedicated himself to producing world class Pinot Noir from one of the harshest and remote wine regions on the planet.
A neglected plot of Pinot Noir planted over 70 years ago forms the foundations of the label with more vineyards procured over time.
Taste Profile: The nose complex, full of savoury earth and subtle red berry and cherry fruit. Extremely perfumed and beautiful with ripe strawberries and citrus fruit, as well as aromatic flowers. Medium-bodied with plenty of fruit and creamy, chewy tannins that are polished and very impressive. Long and linear. This is basically the same wine as the Sin Azufre but with a little more oak, which is barely noticeable but with some spiciness and Burgundian character developing tantalizing notes of violet pastille with time in the glass. Bodega Chacra Cincuenta y Cinco 55 is one of the best of this bottling. Drink after 2023, but already a gorgeous bottle.
Winemaking process: Piero farms these sites in accordance with biodynamics, believing that healthy vines make the best wines. Cincuenta y Cinco is sourced from vineyards planted in 1955 that gently rest on a sea of pebbles, typical in riverbed soils. Carefully hand-picked, selected and gently pressed. Fermented whole cluster at very low temperatures to enhance the floral characteristics of the wine. The wine is then aged for 8 months with 30% in cement and 70% in 2nd and 3rd use French oak barrels. Harvested manually, the reds are fermented naturally in large round cement vats (Piero calls them his 'Bentleys') with the minimum of intervention before being aged either in cement vats or Burgundian oak barrels of which about 20% 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.
Did you know? Piero Incisa della Rochetta is the grandson of the founder of Tenuta San Guido, the producer of Sassicaia, and Chacra is his personal project in northern Patagonia.