2018 Franck Balthazar St. Péray

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 90 points

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  3/26/2023 - J'agnes Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Last bottle of a six pack and interesting to see the evolution. Very much a mid to deep gold in colour. Nose of honey and apricot. Full palate with tremendous weight. Honey, passion fruit, mango and lime. Very rewarding with a persistent length and a nice bitter twist at the finish. Cannot see this improving - drink up!

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  11/28/2022 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:

  Piemonte: Back to the truffling!; 11/24/2022-12/3/2022 (Wineries and various restaurants): A producer that I am a big fan of and don’t often see this wine (not sure if it makes it to the US) so we got it for an afternoon sipper. It’s bigger and rounder in style although with a nice bracing acidity to it that helps.

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  9/28/2021 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points

  100% Roussanne, fermented and aged for 9 months in used (up to 10 yo) oak barriques. 14,5% alcohol.
  
  Deep golden yellow color with a youthful, subtly greenish hue. Very rich and expressive nose with sweet-toned aromas of honey and ripe apricots, some honeydew melon, light floral notes of chamomile, a hint of exotic spices and a touch of beeswax. The wine is broad, oily and moderately concentrated on the palate with bold, very ripe flavors of apricots, some creamy oak tones, a little bit of exotic spices, light honeyed tones, a hint of honeydew melon and a touch of apple jam. The overall feel is somewhat fat, yet the wine doesn't come across as flabby or blowzy, as the relatively high acidity gives it good sense of freshness and firmness. The finish is long, ripe and juicy with succulent flavors of honeydew melon and apple jam, some creamy oak tones, a little bit of aromatic herbal spice and chamomile-driven floral character, light apricot nuances and a primary hint of overripe pear.
  
  A very ripe and even somewhat voluptuous Roussanne that manages to retain remarkable freshness and sense of balance despite all its gras. The wine needs to be poured very cool, though, as it gets quite soft and sweet-toned as it warms up in the glass - the first impression was definitely the best, when the acidity was still high enough. What's the most remarkable here is how well-hidden the high alcohol is, even when the wine warms up in the glass. All in all, this is a terrific, rich and balanced white with a big body and lots of fruit. Drink this like you would drink a Viognier from Condrieu - the fruit intensity and the body are pretty much the same here. Although the wine might continue to improve with age, I get the feeling that it is at its best when its youthful fruit is till on the fore, so in that sense no further aging is necessary.

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  12/28/2020 - NickA Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Sensual nose, with honeysuckle and stone fruit. Nice clean feeling, with a delicious bitterness on the finish. Oak very unobtrusive and my only real issue is the 14.5% alcohol.

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  12/11/2018 - retired_and_roving wrote:

  A week in the Northern Rhone; 12/7/2018-12/15/2018 (Lyon, Vienne, Ampuis, Chavanay, Hermitage, Cornas, St. Joseph, Condrieu & Paris): Barrel tasted at the Domaine. Franck wanted us to try samples from two different barrels - both used but one of the barrels was much older than the other. So interesting - the sample from the older barrel (10 yrs) was much more elegant with the fruit more pure tasting. Both had the lovely roussanne stone fruits (peaches/apricots) and minerals - but the influence of the oak can be felt even with used barrels. He only makes a small amount of the St. Peray but it was delicious.

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