Bodega Chacra – 2025 Mainqué Chardonnay

Bodega Chacra – 2025 Mainqué Chardonnay.

The 2025 Mainqué Chardonnay from Bodega Chacra offers an engaging expression of Patagonia, combining the region’s natural freshness with the finesse and precision associated with some of Burgundy’s finest white wines. Created through the collaboration between Piero Incisa della Rocchetta and Jean-Marc Roulot, Mainqué demonstrates how Chardonnay can find its own identity in the Río Negro Valley, where a dry climate, abundant sunshine and significant temperature differences provide the foundations for wines of remarkable balance.

While Chacra initially established its international reputation through Pinot Noir, its Chardonnay project has become an equally compelling part of the estate’s identity. Mainqué occupies an important position within the portfolio, offering a more approachable interpretation of the winery’s philosophy without compromising its commitment to quality. The 2025 vintage captures this ambition particularly well, bringing together expressive fruit, carefully measured richness and a refreshing mineral character.

There is a natural confidence to this wine. It does not rely on excessive concentration or pronounced oak to make an impression, but instead reveals its qualities through balance, texture and an appealing sense of freshness. It is a Chardonnay that offers immediate pleasure while retaining the precision and underlying structure that make Chacra’s white wines increasingly interesting.

About the Winery

Founded in 2004 by Piero Incisa della Rocchetta, Bodega Chacra is situated in the Río Negro Valley of northern Patagonia, Argentina. Piero, whose family is behind Tuscany’s celebrated Tenuta San Guido and its iconic Sassicaia, discovered the region’s potential through its remarkable heritage of old, ungrafted Pinot Noir vineyards. His decision to establish Chacra was driven by the ambition to produce wines that would express the individuality of this relatively unexplored terroir.

From the outset, the estate has embraced organic and biodynamic viticulture, with an emphasis on biodiversity, healthy soils and minimal intervention. Its vineyards include historic Pinot Noir plantings dating back to 1932, which have helped establish Chacra among Argentina’s most internationally recognized producers of the variety.

The development of the estate’s Chardonnay project introduced a new chapter through Piero’s collaboration with Jean-Marc Roulot, the celebrated winemaker from Meursault. Roulot’s understanding of Chardonnay, particularly his ability to combine texture with remarkable freshness and precision, has played an important role in shaping the identity of Chacra’s white wines.

Rather than attempting to reproduce Burgundy in Argentina, the partnership focuses on understanding how Chardonnay responds to Patagonia’s distinctive growing conditions. The resulting wines combine the technical refinement associated with Roulot’s approach with the fruit character, natural acidity and individuality of the Río Negro Valley.

About the Vineyard

Mainqué takes its name from the village in the Alto Valle del Río Negro, where Chacra’s vineyards are situated. This part of northern Patagonia is characterized by an exceptionally dry climate, abundant sunshine and significant differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures. The surrounding landscape is shaped by the Río Negro, whose ancient alluvial deposits have created a complex mixture of sand, silt, clay and gravel.

These conditions provide an interesting environment for Chardonnay. The combination of sunshine and a relatively long growing season allows the grapes to develop flavour and aromatic complexity, while the cooler nights help preserve the acidity that is essential to the estate’s style. The region’s dry conditions also allow for careful vineyard management, with irrigation playing an important role in maintaining balance throughout the growing season.

Unlike Chacra’s historic single-vineyard Pinot Noirs, Mainqué is a blend of Chardonnay from several vineyard parcels. For the 2025 vintage, fruit was sourced from five different vineyards, including the estate’s Lunita vineyard. Each parcel was vinified separately before the final blend was assembled, allowing the individual characteristics of the different sites to contribute to the finished wine.

The winemaking follows the same philosophy of restraint that defines Chacra’s broader portfolio. Harvesting is carefully timed to preserve natural acidity, while fermentation and maturation take place using a combination of vessels, predominantly French oak, alongside amphora and stainless steel. Malolactic fermentation is avoided to retain the freshness and energy of the fruit.

The objective is not to produce an overtly Burgundian Chardonnay, but to create a wine in which texture, fruit and acidity work together to communicate the particular qualities of Patagonia.

About the Wine

The 2025 Mainqué is a Chardonnay that finds its character in the relationship between generosity and restraint. There is an inviting openness to the wine, yet beneath its approachable nature lies a freshness and precision that give it a distinctly Patagonian identity. Rather than seeking to impress through concentration or oak, it relies on balance, allowing its different elements to come together naturally.

The nose is expressive, with ripe citrus, white peach and fresh orchard fruit accompanied by delicate floral notes. A subtle suggestion of toasted almond and a touch of flint introduce a more savoury dimension, while the oak remains discreetly in the background. There is a pleasing sense of purity to the aromatics, with sufficient complexity to invite a little patience in the glass.

On the palate, Mainqué reveals a little more of its generous personality. The fruit has an attractive ripeness, with juicy white peach and citrus at its core, but it is the acidity that gives the wine its direction. Fresh and energetic without becoming austere, it carries the fruit effortlessly through the mid-palate. A fine, almost chalky texture adds substance, while a delicate saline impression brings definition to the finish.

What makes this wine particularly appealing is the way it combines immediate drinking pleasure with a more serious underlying structure. There is enough richness to make it inviting, yet the wine never loses its sense of freshness. The influence of oak is carefully measured, contributing texture and a subtle savoury complexity rather than becoming a defining characteristic.

Mainqué shows that Patagonia’s strength in Chardonnay lies not in imitating Burgundy, but in finding its own balance between generosity, freshness and precision. The collaboration between Piero Incisa della Rocchetta and Jean-Marc Roulot is evident in the wine’s composure, but its identity remains firmly rooted in Argentina.

The finish is clean and persistent, with lingering citrus, a subtle nuttiness and a refreshing mineral impression. Although already approachable, the wine has the acidity and structure to develop additional complexity with a few years in bottle.

Conclusion

The 2025 Mainqué is a convincing example of the quality and individuality that Chardonnay can achieve in northern Patagonia. Piero Incisa della Rocchetta and Jean-Marc Roulot have created a wine in which technical precision serves the expression of its origins, rather than imposing a particular winemaking style.

What we particularly appreciate is its effortless balance. The wine possesses the fruit and texture to appeal immediately, while its vibrant acidity and subtle mineral character provide the definition that makes it interesting beyond the first glass. It is a Chardonnay that combines accessibility with sophistication, without allowing either quality to compromise the other.

The beauty of Mainqué lies in its balance. It has the generosity to draw you in, the freshness to hold your attention and the precision to make you appreciate what Patagonia can bring to Chardonnay.

We award the 2025 Mainqué a 92-point DWA score—an elegant, expressive Chardonnay that demonstrates why Bodega Chacra’s white wines deserve attention alongside its celebrated Pinot Noirs. 

Its combination of vibrant fruit, refined texture and carefully preserved acidity makes it an appealing introduction to the estate’s Chardonnay project and a compelling reflection of Patagonia’s growing reputation for world-class white wines.

This review is written by our own Niels Aarts. We enjoyed this bottle over lunch at Petite in Sint Oedenrode. Bodega Chacra is imported and distributed in the Netherlands by Smaragd Wijnen.

Price:               €55

Taste Date:     September 2026

Website:         Bodega Chacra