Franck Balthazar

Chaillot

2020

Cornas

No. Rhône Valley

France

Say It

Frank Bal-ta-ZAR Sha-ee-YO

Varietal

Syrah

Quality

Red

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Profile

Producer

GRAPE VARIETAL(S)

Syrah

100% See-RA

Syrah is widely planted throughout the world, but that was not so until the late twentieth century when Syrah was principally grown in the Rhone Valley and, as Shiraz, in Australia. Stylistically, the Palate Character of Syrah can vary depending on ripeness from a rich Round & Fleshy, Tone & Backbone, to a Powerful & Extracted. The flavors and aromas can also vary with a dark, sometimes sweet, fruit character, varying amount of spice, floral, and earth, and smoke, and meaty aromas and flavors.

Country / State

France

Region

No. Rhône Valley

Sub Region

Cornas

Producer

Franck Balthazar

Vintage

2020

Profile

Producer

Franck Balthazar

Cornas, Northern Rhône Valley

Franck Balthazar left an engineering career in 2002 to return to Cornas to take up the traditional farming and winemaking methods of his father René. Today, Balthazar is among an elite group of traditional winemakers who have helped establish Cornas as a sought-after region in the Northern Rhône.

The Balthazar estate was started by Franck’s grandfather, Casimir. René took over in 1950 and started limited domaine bottling in the 1970s. Before then, most wines in Cornas were sold in bulk. Working by hand and horse-drawn plow, Franck Balthazar farms steep granite-terraced hillsides that have old vines of a local clone, "le petit syrah.”

The wines are vinified whole-cluster with a natural yeast fermentation before being aged in large-oak casks. They are powerful yet nuanced with dark fruit, spice, and minerality that unfold in layers.