Franck Balthazar is one of the quiet legends of Cornas, farming old vines on the steep terraces above the village and working with a restrained, traditional hand: whole clusters, native fermentations, and aging in mostly older barrels. His wines are produced in very small quantities and rarely appear outside the Rhône, making bottles like this increasingly difficult to find.
Chaillot comes from hillside parcels just above Cornas, where thin soils over fractured bedrock shape the wine’s structure and savory depth.
The warm 2017 season delivered generous fruit across the Northern Rhône. Here it shows as dark raspberry, black olive, and smoked herbs, carried by a firm, stony grip through the finish. This wine will evolve slowly over time.