2015 Balthazar from Juge vines.

Has anybody had this bottling? SommPicks has some bottles and after inquiring they told me the how it came to be.

Supposedly Balthazar helped Juge farm/harvest the 2015 vintage and for only this year he put some fruit from Juge vines into a single barrel and labeled it as Cornas (not the Chaillot). Now that Juge has retired he puts the the Juge material into the casimir bottling from 2016-present. Seems pretty unique/cool so I bit on a few. Does anybody have more info or an experience with this one?

Link if anyone wants to take a look

https://www.sommpicks.com/products/2015-franck-balthazar-cornas-marcel-juge-vines-750ml

No info but the magic of Juge wasn’t his fruit. His fruit source changed post retirement.

But Franck made killer 2015, the chaillot (verset vines!) were incredible. So I’m sure this is tasty too. Bit on a six pack. Maybe a juge side by side is in order :wink:

I wondered who bit on the six [cheers.gif] although I figured you’d already cornered the market and could give me the TN. Should be a fun comparison problem is I don’t have 6 - 2015 Juge to match the Balthazar [rofl.gif]

Still cool to know that these were Juge “worked” vines in his last vintage.

I’ve been wondering what they bottling was. Thanks for the info.
I don’t really like the Casimir, but I love Balthazar’s Chaillot, which I think will be amazing with time.

Here’s the crux of my tasting note on this wine:

“The nose was very reduced and bretty with notes of rubber eraser and barnyard. The palate was all savory with flavors of black olive, soy, and grilled meat finishing with a salty flip. Nary a blackberry to be found.”

I saw that on CT. I guess I read your note as closed? I haven’t gotten any brett on the 15 chaillot fortunately and was hoping your mention was for the wrong wine.

the 15 sans soufre turned into a mess after some air.

I tasted his 17 sans souffre with him last May. It was great, but he gave me the impression he had no intention to export it. Sans souffre does make a wine more fresh–until it doesn’t.

I think of his SS (of which I have a few bottles) as a wine jot built to age, so that doesn’t surprise me at all. I had a 16 a month ago and the last glass was worse than the first, certainly. Allemand it ain’t!

The 2014 SS was a nice, fresh wine, quite enjoyable but nowhere near worth the fare.

So he’s no longer exporting his SS? I don’t think it’s a big loss, but that’s a bit of a surprise.

I wouldn’t bet more than I could afford to lose that this is correct. I seem to remember hims saying something of the sort during the course of a long tasting at the end of the day. My [mis]interpretation of what he might have said might also have been affected by the fact that I have spoken to more than one vigneron who makes an SS that s/he will only sell at the domaine. It is a widespread belief–and one I think has a good basis in reason–that these wines, while they can be great when they are in good condition, do not always travel well.

So he’s no longer exporting his SS? I don’t think it’s a big loss, but that’s a bit of a surprise.
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Natural wines aren’t my thing, so don’t worry, I won’t come after you if you’re wrong. Was mostly curious. [cheers.gif]

this is a funny observation to be surprised about.

Except it’s not

There’s some really fantastic natural wines that I think you’d like. Check out the 2018 Pedres Blanques, I know Crush has some.

Out of the last 40-50 “no sulfur” wines (maybe more) I’ve had, the 15 Balthazar is the only one that’s turned bad while drinking.

So, one of the few that didn’t start out bad? [stirthepothal.gif]

I heard a whisper - don’t know if it’s true - that Marcel wanted to work the 2016 season too but for a variety of reasons, mainly health, he couldn’t pull it together. It’s too bad as I would have expected a 2016 Juge to have been very special.

I’ll check it out, thanks. I’m not opposed to natural wine, just generally unimpressed with its quality - I find that people who’re really into natural wine are more into “interesting” rather than “good”. A Guttogau my friend ordered a few weeks ago didn’t do much to change my mind - our other friend flat out refused to drink it, so I had to swap my glass of Lignier MSD with him. I definitely lost out on that one. [rofl.gif]