Bodega Chacra - Chardonnay Mainque 2021

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Producer	Bodega Chacra
Country	Argentina
Varietal	Chardonnay
Vintage	2021
Sku	12106368
Size	750ml

 

WA

94

JS

98

Done in collaboration with Jean-Marc Roulot, was picked early as the grapes ripened early but maintained acidity. Fermented in barrel without malolactic, spending 11 months in barrique, this has an up-front fruit, a salinity shared with Chacra Chardonnay, and a tasty finish lent by the calcareous components of the alluvial soil.

This has a complex yet refined nose of sliced apples, peach pits, smoked almonds, wet stones, chalk and white pepper. Hints of beeswax, juniper and cedar, too. It’s medium-bodied, elegant and light-footed, yet powerful, too. Creamy layers of stones and stone fruit slowly evolve to blanched almonds and nougat. Very long and precise. Try this from 2024. From biodynamically grown grapes.

The 2021 Mainqué Chardonnay is the second white here, produced by Jean-Marc Roulot from 40-year-old ungrafted vines in Mainqué in the Lunita property (where they regrafted the vines to Chardonnay), where they work with cover crops, no chemicals and bees. It fermented with indigenous yeasts, 70% in French oak barrels and 10% each in clay amphorae, concrete egg and stainless steel, and it matured for nine months, 70% in barrel and 10% each in concrete and stainless steel. It has the precision and purity of Roulot, which to a certain extent is the result of thorough work with the press. "He sent us the press program," Piero told me. "And we now have two presses. We are learning." When I thought about what was in common between the reds and the whites, I came up with three words: precision, purity and elegance. It has notes of white flowers and a touch of fennel and other aromatic herbs. It was harvested early in the morning and in the season, and the wine is light and refreshing, ethereal, weightless and with purity and precision. It's a delight! 24,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in December 2021.

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...