Chacra

Chacra is the leading producer of Pinot Noir wine in Argentina. He wants to make the most delicious wines with no science, but he doesn't like Brett and 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. He's also working in the social aspect of the people who work in the winery, with food from the vegetable garden and even houses with solar panels to take advantage of the light from Río Negro. The wines are clean, balanced, fresh and pure. The wines are alive, have the protection from the lees and, depending on the year, may or may not be filtered. 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 has also regrafted a little Poulsard.

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, with an aim of 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, stopping the use of refrigeration with 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.