2016 Domaine de Bila-Haut Occultum Lapidem Cotes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France 750 ml

Demand has been building up for this wine for months now, with a sizeable contingent of Rhône obsessives knocking down the door for another shot at Bila-Haut’s Roussillon—an absolutely stunning value for a red with the muscular power, gobs of rich black and red fruit, and licorice and leather polish of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but at a fraction of the price. 

If you’re typically drawn to powerful red blends (even a little), buy this bottle, whose Latin name accurately translates to “hidden gem”—you will be thrilled. While our bottles last, you can land the wine that Jeb Dunnuck gushed over as “a screaming value” and “one of the finest vintages to date for the cuvée.” 

Crafted from 60-year-old vines, this is a 95-point masterpiece.

In 1999, the legendary Rhône winemaker Michel Chapoutier stumbled upon a neglected 185-acre property in the Roussillon. The soils were a rugged mix of flaky schist, gneiss, and clay. Chapoutier was smitten by the wildness of the slopes of the Agly Valley—about as close as French vines get to the Spanish border—and the vineyards bracketed by scrappy brush, sparse trees, and wild herbs. There was a perfume in the air that Michel simply couldn’t get out of his head, a mix of smoky rosemary, thyme, juniper, lavender, and olive. Chapoutier quickly purchased the estate, determined to bring it back to life.

Seventeen years later, Mother Nature served up an exceptional growing season in Roussillon. Monsieur Chapoutier, known by many as Hermitage’s greatest winemaker, slammed it out of the park with an old-vine blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Carignan from the village of Latour de France.

Bargain-hunters anxious to discover the red-fruit extravagance of the Roussillon are likely a little skittish about plopping down $150 per bottle for Chapoutier’s 100-pointer, but when it comes to value this 95-point stunner sets a new standard, we grabbed every bottle we could get our hands on. We advise you to do the same.

Aromatically exquisite and perfectly light on its feet, finishing with superb vibrancy and persistence, this bottle is in a class of its own, a performance truly worthy of Chapoutier’s storied reputation.