| Region of production: | Cornas |
| Winery Location: | Cornas |
| Year Established: | 1931 |
Vineyard Holdings
6.48 ha
3.5 ha Cornas; soil is gore (decomposed granite)
- Chaillot: 1 ha, planted in 1914
- Mazards: 0.39 ha, planted in 1959 and 1961
- Lègre: young vines planted by Franck
Top Wines Produced
- Cornas: exclusively from the old vines on Chaillot and Mazards
- Cornas “Cuvée Casmir”: 75% young-vine fruit, 25% from Mazards
- Côtes du Rhône: 100% young-vine Cornas
Inaugural Vintages
- 1980 for the Cornas
Average Total Production
- 12,000 bottles
Summary
Franck Balthazar left his job at a Valence engineering company to return to the family domaine and take over from his father René in 2002. The domaine was founded in 1931 by René’s father Casmir, who had a small plot of vines as well as cereal grains on the côteau of Cornas. When Franck returned, the domaine owned two hectares of vines, which he has expanded to its current 3.5 hectares. This is an excellent producer of traditionally styled Cornas.
Style & Vinification Techniques
The approach at Balthazar is traditional: No yeasts are added, the Cornas is not de-stemmed (though the two young vine cuvees are 50% de-stemmed), and the wine is aged exclusively in old (at least 10 years) demi-muids that the domaine purchases used. The wines are fined but not filtered. The estate became certified organic in 2013.
Producer Website: N/A