Winemaker Notes
Chacra Treinta y Dos is a single vineyard wine, made from old vineyards planted in 1932 on a land layered with clay, sand and pebbles. The most structured of all Chacra’s wines, Chacra Treinta y Dos is meant to be aged. Its soft characteristics and velvety tannins, however, make it drinkable at a younger age. This red balances toasted spice and mesquite notes with the macerated cherry fruit character, remaining fresh through the mineral-tinged finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Red cherries, strawberries, spiced plums, violets, cloves, dried herbs, undergrowth and a touch of smoke on the nose. It’s medium-bodied with firm, tight-grained tannins. Firm, mineral and tea-like tannin quality. Very focused and structured. Needs time. Try after 2025. From biodynamically grown grapes.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Like the majority of these wines, the percentage of wine in concrete that didn't see any oak in the 2020 Treinta y Dos has been increased to 50%, and the remaining 50% matured in French oak barrels (only 10% new) for nine months. It comes from a plot planted in 1932 on clay, sand and silt soils that deliver the most structured of Chacra's reds. The wine fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts and has moderate 12.5% alcohol, which for a warmer and riper year like 2020, is remarkable. But of course, comparisons bring out the truth: 2020 was quite different climate wise from 2021, and the wines from 2020 show it. There's a little more ripeness, and the quality of the tannins is not the same, probably because of a hurried ripening of the grapes; plus, it's a little grainier and has a little more rusticity in the mouthfeel. Best after 2022.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
One of the most southerly regions on the globe for fine wine production, Patagonia has experienced extraordinary vineyard expansion since the early 2000s.
Patagonia vineyards occupy the lower foothills of the Andes at 1,000 to 1,600 feet. Here cold air drops at night from incredibly steep elevations—the Andes reach well over 15,000 feet in this zone—a phenomenon that produces drastic diurnal shifts. Cold nights contrasted with hot summer days produce grapes with striking color, full ripeness, great finesse and aromatic intensity.
Favored for its luxury brands, the Patagonia wine growing region of Argentina focuses on a diverse array of international varieties: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillón and Viognier among the white grapes, and Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon for reds.