Franck Balthazar
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7 products
How this estate remains off the radar for so many is a wonder - the Balthazar family has been crafting wines for nearly a century, the vines largely at least that old, with a further bump in quality when Franck purchased Noël Verset's ancient vineyard upon his retirement.
A single-man production largely, the grapes are fermented whole-cluster, with some punching down and pumping over; the goal is purity of fruit, each vineyard plot vinified separately in large (600L) casks.
The Crozes-Hermitage comes from "younger" vines - about 40 years of age, and spends about 20 months in barrel. Long, spicy and complex.
Franck will bottle 3 different Cornas wines; first, the "Casimir" is a young plot of vines planted to granite soils, generating beautiful spice and length to the Syrah. He will create a Sans Soufre (no sulfur added) cuvée from similarly young vines, allowing for a wine that is effusive and ready to drink immediately. Finally, the big boy, Cornas Chaillot, from vines planted in 1911 and 1913...wow. This is the Verset plot which Franck ferments whole-cluster before moving the juice to the demi-muids for about 18 months. There is no new oak here at all!
