WineAlign

• By Sara d'Amato
  11/22/2018 (link)

  (M. Chapoutier Les Vignes De Bila Haut Côtes Du Roussillon Villages, Ac red) Subscribe to see review text.

• By David Lawrason
  11/16/2018 (link)

  (M. Chapoutier Les Vignes De Bila Haut Côtes Du Roussillon Villages, Ac red) Subscribe to see review text.

JebDunnuck.com

• By Jeb Dunnuck
  New Releases from the Roussillon, 11/1/2018 (link)

  (Domaine de Bila Haut Cotes du Roussillon Villages Les Vignes de Bila Haut Red) Subscribe to see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Bila-Haut, 1/31/2019

  (Bila-Haut (Chapoutier) Cotes du Roussillon Villages Rouge) Hello friends. Time for what has become an early-in-the-year tradition: an offer of Chapoutier’s exquisite entry-level red from Bila-Haut, in the southwest France value garden of Roussillon. [Note: we also have two bonus wines; the new vintage of Bila-Haut’s higher-end Occultum Lapidem (and what a vintage it is; the exquisite 2015), as well as a zippy 2017 rosé.]Jeb Dunnuck: Copyrighted material withheld. A few reminders on the Bila-Haut project: first off, Languedoc-Roussillon is a region that has for some time exported massive quantities of forgettable plonk, but has in recent years begun to develop a reputation as a fine source of French value. At the vanguard of the quality movement: Michel Chapoutier, he of the multiple 100pt (Robert Parker) wines from the northern Rhone. I’ll reprint the excerpt from one of Parker’s introductions to Chapoutier in Wine Advocate: History will record that Michel Chapoutier is a revolutionary. He is also a highly emotional man whose infectious love of primitive art, historic books, classical music and, of course, terroir and winemaking are seemingly impossible to harness. Michel Chapoutier was among the first in France to embrace the radical biodynamic agricultural teachings, for which he was initially criticized, but is now praised. He was also the first to print all his labels in Braille, something that cynics considered to be a gimmick, but ask the National Association for the Blind what they think. Coming from a famous family, but moving in a direction unlike any of its previous members, Michel Chapoutier is self-taught. What he has accomplished over the last two decades or more is one of the great wine stories of the modern era. With all his outgoing, boisterous, machine-gun-speed prose that can sometimes sound shockingly cocky, and at other times reminiscent of the famous Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran, there is never a dull moment around Chapoutier, who makes comments such as ‘Filtering wine is like making love with a condom,’ and ‘Acidifying wine is like putting a suit of armor on the vineyard’s terroir, vintage character and the cepage.’ Don’t blame him if his brilliant intellect and shocking vocabulary put his visitors on the defensive. Michel Chapoutier has proven through his genius, the faith of his convictions and backbreaking attention to detail in his vineyards and in the winery that a once moribund negociant (yet with significant vineyard holdings) could become a beacon of inspiration and quality for the entire world. In short, every wine consumer in the world should admire his accomplishments. His Roussillon rouge is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Carignan, from an estate vineyard in the Agly hills comprising, according to Bila-Haut’s importer, 75 hectares of land cultivated under bio-dynamic farming techniques and characterized by steep pebbly slopes rising from almost 150 meters above sea level. The soil has 3 components – Schiste, Gneiss and Clay – and the Grape varieties are Grenache, Carignan, and of course Syrah. The cool winters and very hot summers combined with little rain, and the drying Mistral breeze during the growing season is perfection for these varietals; in some respects better than in the Rhone Valley. The Domaine is located in the commune of Latour-de-France, just about as close as you can be to Spain, but still be located in France. Raised in cement and clocking in at 14% listed alc, this indeed has a Syrah-dominant, Northern Rhone-esque nose, with huckleberry fruit complicated by notes of roasting beef bones and peppercorns and star anise. The palate continues the fruity-savory mix, on a juicy, suavely-textured frame. A smattering of finishing tannins are fine-grained and savory-delicious. This is wine for winter braising and summer barbequing. The review above is as strong as Jeb as bestowed on any vintage of Bila-Haut’s rouge, and I can see why; this is dynamite.