2022 Franck Balthazar, Cornas, Chaillot

Franck Balthazar is a staunch traditionalist who makes unabashed vin de garde. Many collectors know once these elegant, impeccably farmed wines age around 10 years, they can go toe to toe with any other Rhône wine. When your Balthazar Cornas Chaillot is ready to drink, you’ll have paid a fraction of its worth. Balthazar’s Cornas Chaillot hails from 100-year-old vines purchased from the legendary Noël Verset. This century-old plot of Chaillot houses a rare jewel: serine, the local name for an antique variety of smaller, more intensely aromatic Syrah that Northern Rhône growers prize above all else. Balthazar has since propagated clones throughout his vineyards.