Domaine Franck Balthazar was founded in 1931. It has been managed since 2002 by Franck, who succeeded his father René, who had been in charge since 1950 and who had supervised the transition to bottling at the estate in the 1970s. has grown from 2 hectares in 2002 (1 hectare of century-old vines in Chaillot and 1 hectare of vines around 50 years old in Mazard ) to around 3.5 hectares today. Plantings on a steep site above Sabarotte were added in 2005 and 2008 on newly formed terraces. Franck Balthazar's objective is to maintain the traditional approach of his grandfather, Casimir.
The vineyards are organic and plowed with a horse, the ferments are whole bunches with native yeasts in concrete vats. To preserve the scent of the old vines and plantations at high altitude, all the wines are aged in old 600-litre demi-muids . Sulfur is kept to a minimum and all winemaking techniques are as natural as possible.
The Sans Soufre Addé cuvée comes from Syrah grown in La Lègre and a little in the Côtes , with an average age of 11 years. The first cuvée was released in 2012 and comes from a single cask. Fermentation in whole bunches lasts 2 weeks with indigenous yeasts and manual batonnage. The aging lasts 14 months in the 600 liter barrels used by Franck Balthazar. As the name suggests, no sulfites are added and the wine is bottled unfined , unfiltered , all handled by gravity.
Grape variety: 100% Syrah