As is so often the case when we want ready-to-drink and approachable wines that don’t break the bank, we look to a master who is famous for wines that are far more grand. In this... Read More

As is so often the case when we want ready-to-drink and approachable wines that don’t break the bank, we look to a master who is famous for wines that are far more grand. In this case, the master is Franck Balthazar.

Balthazar seems to be on the cusp of joining the pantheon of great Northern Rhône traditionalists. He has thoroughbred holdings of great old vines planted on amazing sites which he works naturally. In the winery he employs old-school techniques and vinifies with little intervention (aka "natural"). The result of all his hard work are wines that express their terroir in the pure and profound way that only the “best ever” manage. It’s no surprise that the great Northern Rhône writer, Jonathan Livingstone-Learmonth, honored him with his "STGT" (soil to glass transfer) label, a label he uses for the few producers who manage to express their terroir purely and directly in their wines.