2019 Bodega Chacra Chardonnay Mainque

Full bottle 1,363 g. Jean-Marc Roulot consults and they grafted on to 40-year-old ungrafted Merlot that didn't perform that well. L&S: 'In 2016 Piero Incia della Rochetta started a new partnership with Jean-Marc Roulot to produce Chardonnay. The groundwork was done to produce the first vintage in 2017. Piero says that he would never have dared ask J-MR to make wine with him, but a chance encounter showed him that Jean-Marc was enthusiastic about a new project away from the constraints of Burgundy. Chacra had a vineyard of Merlot which never really fitted into what Piero wanted to do, so they bud-grafted this to Chardonnay, giving them an instant vineyard of forty-year-old vines – it turned out that this calcareous plot is perfect for Chardonnay. They have since planted much more Chardonnay, and there is considerable excitement about these new wines, which have a taut mineral salinity and complex, nuanced flavours that you'd expect from Jean-Marc Roulot wines.' Wonderful tension (thanks to Roulot?) and underlying health and richness. Really exciting wine and potential. (JR)