Franck Balthazar - Cuvée Sans Soufre 2022
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 overseen the move to bottling at the estate in the 1970s. The estate has grown from 2 hectares in 2002 (1 hectare of century-old vines at Chaillot and 1 hectare of vines about 50 years old at Mazard ) to about 3.5 hectares today. Plantings on a steep site above Sabarotte were added in 2005 and 2008 on newly formed terraces. Franck Balthazar's aim is to maintain the traditional approach of his grandfather, Casimir.
The vineyards are organic and ploughed with a horse, the ferments are whole bunches with indigenous yeasts in concrete vats. To preserve the perfume of the old vines and the high altitude plantings, all the wines are aged in old 600 litre demi-muids . Sulphur is kept to a minimum and all the winemaking techniques are as natural as possible.
The Sans Soufre Ajouteré cuvée comes from Syrah grown in La Lègre and a little in Côtes , whose average age is 11 years. Fermentation in whole bunches lasts 2 weeks with indigenous yeasts and manual stirring. Aging lasts 14 months in 600-liter barrels . As its name suggests, no sulfites are added and the wine is bottled unfined , unfiltered , all handled by gravity.
Grape variety: 100% Syrah