Name: Cornas Chaillot
Brand: Franck Balthazar
Rating: 94.5 (3 reviews)

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Yields in 2017 were extremely short because of drought and heat, according to Franck Balthazar, "down to just about 20 hl/ha," compared to the traditional average of 30 hl/ha. To make matters worse, "2018 was about 23 hl/ha and 2019 is back to 20 hl/ha because, like 2017, they were both dry and hot." He added that "there are serious tannins in the '17s. You should really not touch the Chaillot for at least another six years and for sure drink it after the ‘18s."

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Franck Baltahazar told me he finds that "2018 is the complete opposite of 2017. There's more elegance, and the wines are less massive, with less dark personality." He attributes that mostly to the low yields that growers suffered in 2017, which in his case meant around 20hl/ha, as opposed to the normal 30 to 32. "Low yields can mean too much concentration," he pointed out, "and get in the way of harmony and finesse." Those numbers are similar to what Balthazar harvested in 2016, by the way, but he finds the 2016s to be less massive and showing better structure than the 2017s when they were at a similar age. He added that he considers 2016 to be “a great, serious vintage, even the equal of 2010 but with a more delicate touch.” In a vintage like 2017 and 2018, for that matter, I welcome Balthazar's light approach.

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Readers who follow Franck Balthazar's elegant Cornas bottlings won't be surprised that the 2016 vintage played smoothly into his hands, stylistically. "There's very good concentration to the wines because of the low yields," he said, "but there's also freshness and energy so the wines don't exhibit heaviness." And calling the yields "low" here is an understatement, as Balthazar's old vines, in some of the best sites of the appellation, gave up a paltry 20 hectoliters per hectare versus the 32 hl/ha that they normally produce.

2017 Cornas Chaillot

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