Aight. Gonna try one tomorrow. Will update the thread
Nice, that was quick! Pm me first so we can split what’s left if it’s killer 
Interesting to see you write that about the Balthazar Sans Soufre. I just had the 2016 the other night and it was very stable, the first no sulphur wine I have had in a while that was so free of faults - no brett, VA, mousiness or anything. And it was a very fine drink after a night in the fridge as well. It was my first Balthazar SS of any vintage.
Wait, what size bottle is a Balthazar?
I’ve been tracking these on Sommpicks for about 6 weeks, but hadn’t pulled the trigger until tonight. Bought three, now only one left on the site.
Edit: this morning the site is showing “24+ in stock” again, so looks like they reloaded.
Had a great tasting with Franck in Cornas in May. Didn’t know about this bottling at the time, so couldn’t ask him about it. We tasted the three 2017 Cornas bottlings (Casimir, Chaillot and Sans Souffre) from bottle, and the same three 2018 wines from barrel, along with his Cotes du Rhone and Croze Hermitage wines. All of the 2017/2018 Cornas were wonderful and surprisingly approachable, especially compared to a 2015 Casimir tasted at home before the trip, which was as hard as nails, even after four days.
Franck hand labling one each of the 2017 Cornas for us to purchase during our visit.
“I put the label with my hand, no machinery.” Steve Anderson on Instagram: "Our second #Cornas visit was with Franck Balthazar. Although we had not met Franck previously, I have enjoyed his wines and a couple of posts on a wine board had highly recommended a visit with Franck. His cellar is small and located beneath his home. In fact, when we pulled up, we weren’t sure we were at the right location as we were on a residential street on the edge of the village. Franck started the tasting with his three bottled 2017 Cornas Syrahs, the Cuvèe Casimir, named for his grandfather, the Chaillot and the Sans Soufre Ajouté. All three were surprisingly approachable, particularly compared to a 2015 Casimir I sampled at home prior to the trip. After the bottles, Franck graciously pulled barrel samples of each of his 2018 wines for us. In addition to the three Cornas wines, we sampled his Cotes du Rhône and Crozes Hermitage. Again, all the 2018s were surprisingly approachable and gorgeous at such a young age. When FrancK mentioned using older barrels, I presumed maybe 5 years old, but he pointed to one and noted it was from 1992. It is obvious that Franck puts his heart and soul into these wines, and one look at his hands show the work is mostly manual. To top off a memorable visit, when I asked Franck if I would be able to buy a couple of bottles, he took the time to hand label them for us. Thank you #franckbalthazar !"
Cheers! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Steve
I saw it was down to one this am, they must have reloaded in confidence of The upcoming Fu review. Must only be about 250 or so bottles, so they must have the inside source.
Just bought the last one. See if it pops back up
24+ back in stock in less than a minute!
https://www.sommpicks.com/products/2015-franck-balthazar-cornas-marcel-juge-vines-750ml
Oh, ok…I bit on a couple. Have never really loved Balthazar, but small sample size.
Picked up some Valentini while I was there.
Hadn’t order from sommpicks in a while, nice prices and fairly deep/interesting stock.
The wine is very much in the vein of Balthazar chaillot but more red fruited than black fruited and leans more wild feral than savory. Also a little softer but not lacking in structure / acidity. It has a very similar build / body as the chaillot
Cool. I like the sound of that! Thanks.
I had both this and the 2016 Chaillot next to each other a couple of months back. Both great wines, though I slightly preferred the ‘16 Chaillot (probably more a product of vintage more than anything).