2014 Franck Balthazar Cornas Sans Soufre Ajouté

WINE TALK
#1

Quite a refreshing, crisp wine. A touch of spritz that blew off over time. Nose a bit muted even over the second evening, but the palate revealed a lovely array of red fruits, cold river stones, brine and minty herbs. Has an almost natural wine feel to it, my wife thought it was Beaujolais. Not a bad call given the weight of the wine, it’s textural richness and how incredibly ripe the wine was without being cloying. A tasty wine but not necessarily one showing a lot of depth right now.

(89 pts.)

#2

BUT IT’S HYPED WINE, FROM CORNAS NONETHELESS – YOU MUST LOVE OR BE FOREVER SHAMED

#3

Sorry, I had to sneeze…

But thx for the note, Mr. Alfert; I have a couple of these buried – sounds like they could use some more time?

#4

“Almost natural wine feel to it”

Prob cause he farms organic and doesn’t add any sulfur to this wine… like a natural wine :stuck_out_tongue:

#5

…and he uses wild yeasts like a _________.

I think it’s also worth noting that the average vine age for this wine is seven years old and it is from 2014–not exactly the vintage of the century in Northern Rhone.

#6

I blinded some people with the 2016 and yes Beaujolais was one of the guesses.

#7

I later popped a 2015 Fessy CdB VV, and one can certainly see some parallels. By the way, at $11.99, this Beaujolais wine is a STOOPID good value. I went bonkers over the 2009, bought several cases of the Fessy cuvees, they became house wine. I’m going back to look at invoices, but I think I even got this cheap little wine at $9.99 closeout. My local guy has the 2016 now at $11.99.

#8

Perhaps. I just don’t have any experience with this specific sans soufre bottling, but the vines are quite young. Seemed to me a wine to enjoy in its exuberant youth. Indeed, the Fessy had more structure for aging.

#9

Damn; I paid a lot of money for a simple fruity wine that drinks like a Beaujolais! I’ll have to open one and see for myself. I’ve loved every Balthazar wine I’ve had, so I bought these sight unseen.
Cheers,
Warren

#10

I loved the 2016.

#11

I tried the 2015 version of this next to the Chaillot. It’s so obvious that the Chaillot is the better wine, and not even much price differential…

#12

That 15 chaillot is prob the best qpr buy in the vintage.

Maybe Franck is a marketing genius! He knows ppl will pay more for natural wine

#13

Ah, I wondered what the sans soufre meant. [wink.gif]

#14

Robert has to be led to the water

#15

Fu such a Rhône expert, it’s so cute. I take a bow to his largesse. Frankly, I would rather be lead to scotch sans water. :slight_smile:

#16

at least I know why a wine “almost tastes like a natural wine” [snort.gif]

#17

So why does the label say, “ajoute”?

I think that word means “added” whereas “sans” means it is not.

So hard being a country lawyer, things so complex in your big cities.

#18

It’s the technically correct “without added sulphur”. Most sans soufre wines probably have residual sulphur so that description is mildly misleading.

#19

(93 pts.)

#20

Good another big city asian had to teach you about the world while I was occupied!