Bodegas Chacra - Mainqué Chardonnay by J-M Roulot & P. Incisa 2025

Druvor

100 Chardonnay 

Tasting note

The 2025 Chacra Chardonnay is a superb wine that ranks among the finest white wines I've tasted from Argentina. It comes from 45-year-old vines originally planted to Merlot on silt and sand soils and grafted onto Chardonnay in 2015. It matured for 11 months in a mix of 60% oak barrels and 40% sandstone amphorae. The nose is immediately expressive and captivating, with a pleasing mix of aromatic herbs, toasted hazelnuts, citrus peels, saline overtones and floral accents of chamomile and dried jasmine. The mouthfeel follows with a pitch-perfect blend of deft richness, electric energy and palpable tension, all of which carry into a muscular finish that is equal parts rich, focused and mouthwatering, anchored by chalky dry extract and pronounced salinity. I followed this over the course of multiple days, and only toward the end of the third did it begin to meaningfully degrade; I cannot wait to follow its evolution over the coming decade.

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Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Chacra is the fully certified organic and biodynamic project in Río Negro (Patagonia) from Piero Incisa della Rocchetta (you might recognize the Sassicaia surname here). He works 25 hectares of red grapes and a further 15 hectares of Chardonnay, all ungrafted and massal selections in Mainqué. Four years ago, they stopped using any chemicals in the vineyard, even sulfur, and have increased the number of beehives and replaced the capsules by beeswax. He has lowered the use of barrels (almost none new) and increased amphorae and concrete, aiming at enhancing the floral, mineral and energy aspects of their wines. They have built a new underground barrel room with bricks made out of local clay and stopped the use of refrigeration, instead using the natural temperature and also humidity (and salt from the river). Evaporation there is lower, and he finds the wines age better. He has also planted a further 30,000 poplar trees to give shade to the vines. Production varies between 125,000 and 135,000 bottles, depending on the vintage. For the white wines, he has the help of Jean-Marc Roulot. 

2021 was quite cold but with a warm summer, which is normal in the region that delivered medium-bodied wines with floral and fruit-driven aromas and around 12.5% alcohol. I had a very long tasting with Piero and discussed the wines thoroughly. He wants to make the most delicious wines with no science, but he doesn't like Brett; though he is quite tolerant with volatility, which he says is quite high in all his wines but somehow is not noticeable. Since he introduced the bees, he's never had a fermentation stop. They work with cover crops (seven different ones, mainly mustard), and they are optimizing the use of water for irrigation. The organic and biodynamic approach is delivering results, and the plants are balanced after 20 years of respectful viticulture. The wines are clean, balanced, fresh and pure, alive. They have the protection from the lees, and depending on the years, they filter or not. 

He has the idea to build a new separate winery for the wines with no sulfur (no more than 25,000 bottles) and is producing new wines, a Syrah, a Bastardo (Trousseau) and a Moscatel, and he has also regrafted a little Poulsard. He's also working in the social aspect of the people who work in the winery, food from the vegetable garden and even houses with solar panels...

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Robert Parker Wine Advocate