Domaine Balansa
WINEMAKER
Céline Peyre & Alexandre Gressent
TYPE OF AGRICULTURE
Biodynamic
VINEYARD AREA
14 ha
COUNTRY, REGION, SUBREGION
Wines
Whilst visiting the family home in 2012, Céline Peyre first felt the strong pull to leave her life in the city and return to her roots: close to nature among the family vineyards. Just three years later she and her partner Alexandre had moved back to Corbieres to begin Domaine Balansa in collaboration with her parents.
The 14 hectares of old-vines had been in the Peyre family for several generations, with fruit mostly sold on to the local winemaking co-op. With the return of Céline, the family began to vinify their own crop for the first time.
Farming has been organic since 2013, with conversion to biodynamics beginning 2018 and certification from 2021. Their plots on loose, flaky schist are scattered over the multi-faced hillsides at 140-280 metres altitude in the Hautes-Corbieres. Their expressions are typified by both the sunny, windy Mediterranean climate and the surrounding maquis scrubland. Work in the cellar is gentle and extractions are kept low for soft, pure-fruited wines, bottled with little to no sulphur.
Brooding, bruised fruit and supple tannins, with a lick of citrusy salinity. A brief 3 day cold maceration lends a little grip and savoury, garrigue-herbs.