Chacra Pinot Noir Cincuenta y Cinco Patagonia 2021

At a wine tasting in New York City, Piero discovered a pinot noir that awakened him to the potential of the Río Negro region of Patagonia, Argentina. After his first visit to the arid, windswept valley, he knew this would be the home of his new passion and turned to his grandfather in Italy for guidance. Piero’s grandfather is the Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, the legendary creator of Sassicaia. While his grandfather naturally imbued an understanding of fine wines in Piero, more importantly, he taught him about respect for and responsibility to nature. As a pioneer of sustainable farming in Bolgheri, Marchese Mario now serves as a mentor and example to Piero and his new adventure in Patagonia.

“The flat, dry Río Negro Valley on the northern end of Patagonia won’t strike anybody as a glamorous wine region. For one thing, apple and pear orchards, along with platoons of poplar trees, far outnumber grapevines. For another, the restaurants, hotels and the usual camp followers of the winemaking life are nowhere to be found. But glamour did not draw Piero Incisa della Rocchetta to the Río Negro. The old pinot noir vines did, along with promising soils, a sparkling climate and a dream of creating a self-sustaining wine estate…” – Eric Asimov, The New York Times

The 2021 vintage of Cincuenta y Cinco pinot noir marks the third consecutive year the wine received a 98 POINT rating (the prior two years were lowly 97s). This is a remarkable pinot noir with amazing depth and complexity. Floral and spicy aromatics lure you in, with salted cranberry, smoked game, and bergamot tea. Light on its feet, the palate is layered and diverse with rose hips, red alpine berries, iron ore, and Seville orange.

Chacra is named for the local dialect’s designation of a special piece of land to pomology (the science of growing fruit). A clear emphasis on farming is the result, with fully organic and biodynamic processes implemented to the highest degree possible. This includes making compost, and an entire series of in-house soil preparations and amendments – from horn manure to yarrow, chamomile, and dandelion “teas” (to name a few) that are all added to the soils and plants as replacements for conventional sprays and fertilizers.

With meager yields averaging only 2 pounds of fruit from each vine, Piero’s focus has always been on the quality and purity of these biodynamically farmed old vines. Planted in 1955 (hence the name Cincuenta y Cinco), these vineyards grow in the fiercely windy and arid riverbed soils of the Rio Nero, topped with alluvial pebbles. The region receives roughly 6-8 inches of rain per year, relying instead on the snowmelt from the Andes that supplies the two rivers of the region and irrigation for the valley’s agriculture.

The wine is native yeast fermented in whole clusters at some of the coolest temperatures I’ve ever seen for primary fermentation – below 68°F (this is done to emphasize the high-toned floral notes in the wine). The fermentation occurs in shallow cement vats, with the 11 months of aging split evenly between concrete tanks and a mixture of used French oak barrels that have been air-dried for a minimum of 36 months before filling. The wine is racked via gravity, with no additional filtering or fining. From one of the most unique, off-the-radar regions anywhere in the world, this is a shining example of pinot noir, and the potential we hope to see in the years to come. This is some seriously cool stuff that deserves pride of place for your next gathering. Grab yours before it is gone!

PAIRING IDEAS: Ditch your oven and keep things cool with this Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl.

USIC SUGGESTIONS: Keeping things cool in a completely different (but no less important way) is Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats with “I Need Never Get Old”.