DOMAINE BALANSA
FRANCE, Corbières, FITOU
We're so pleased to begin the year with new wines from Celine & Alexandre at Domaine Balansa, who make wonderfully precise, elegant wines from their patchwork of old vines over soft brown schist in the hills of the Hautes-Corbières.
Celine & Alexandre farm 14 hectares biodynamically, on parcels up to 400m above sea level, centenarian vines that have been in Celine's family for several generations. Until she returned home in 2013, the Peyre family sold their fruit to the local winemaking co-op. Celine had vision for these old vines though, and the pair have been doing vinification themselves since.
Each wine is a snapshot of a single vineyard, the whole collection painting a picture of Celine & Alex's surface in the hills. Work in the cellar is gentle and precise, wines are aged simply in concrete tanks, old barrels and bespoke terracotta amphora, sulphur use is kept to an absolute minimum at bottling, nothing is filtered or fined.
Given the name, Celine & Alex are always aiming for balance, trying to produce wines of substance whilst retaining tension and freshness, hoping to reflect the extremes their old vines have battled over the last 100 + years.
AVAILABLE NOW
WHITE
2022 - Coume de Maliès - Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Vermentino, Carignan Blanc, Carignan Gris
From a 250m elevated co-planted parcel on schist, limestone and a little clay. Three days as whole-bunches in the cold room, fermented in stainless steel, aged 6 months in concrete. Unfined and unfiltered.
ROSE/RED
2023 - Peche de Rozies - Grenache Noir, Syrah
Named for the vineyards location beneath the Pech de Roziès mountain, with bat boxes recently installed, pressed directly after two days in the cold room, fermented in stainless steel. 4/5ths aged in tank, with 1/6th in demi-muid, both for 6 months
2023 - Vinhota - LLedoner Pelut, Grenache Noir
From the highest vineyard at 400m over pure schist with very little top-soil, with one day in the cold room, five days carbonic maceration, aged for 6 months with half in tank and half in barrel.
2022 - Bel Soula - Carignan, Grenache Noir, Syrah
Another parcel over soft brown schist at 400m elevation, Bel Soula has a 10 day carbonic maceration, and six months in concrete before bottling.
2022 - Can del Rey - Carignan, Grenache Noir, Syrah
From an incredibly steep vineyard on loose, flaky schist at 300m, comprising a centenarian co-planting of Carignan, Grenache and Syrah. Carignan and Grenache have a 17-day carbonic maceration, whilst the Syrah (just 10% of the blend) is de-stemmed and macerated separately. Aged for a year in barrels, before blending and bottling.
