Emblematic Rhône Valley producer Chapoutier has crafted a truly remarkable Côtes-du-Roussillon Villages. It is blended from Syrah, Grenache and Carignan cultivated on a terrain of gneiss soil, shale and limestone. The grapes are harvested by hand and fully de-stemmed, and the cap is punched down throughout the month-long maceration process, to extract the colour and content. Half the wine is matured in vats and half in barrels. Occultum Lapidem offers notes of leather, dark fruit, pepper and the garrigue on the nose. The palate is more pronounced and shows itself to be rich and dense from the very first moment. This is a wine from the South, with body. The finish is long, with prominent but delicate tannins, and carried by a wonderful fresh quality.