2016 Mas Roc de Bô Pepite Noir Minervois 750 ml

We all had it pegged for $50+ Châteauneuf-du-Pape. And when the wine that stunned us with its rich blackberry fruit, black pepper complexity, and stout structure turned out to be Mas Roc de Bô’s Pépite Noir from the tiny French hamlet of Minervois, it redoubled our love for the Languedoc by bolstering the region’s reputation for high quality and incredible value. 

That’s because Mas Roc de Bô is a worthy competitor to any of the sun-soaked wines of the South of France, Northern Spain, or California, and with its 96-point score from the Decanter World Wine Awards, we’re not the only ones who think so. 

Inky ruby-purple in the glass, this wine is a one-bottle argument that the Languedoc should always be a part of the serious red wine conversation. The nose springs forth with copious aromas of sun-ripe blackberries, violets, musky black pepper, vanilla, and hints of bacon before the palate delivers power in spades. Rich red-black fruits embossed with flavors of vanilla, spice, sage, black pepper, and thyme show off the winemaking polish behind the label. This wine is as juicy and lush as the Rhône’s best, for the kind of price that’s always made us love the Languedoc. 

It’s no surprise that a wine with this kind of quality comes from Mas Roc de Bô: Their team scours the picturesque landscape, seeking out the oldest vines—those planted in extremely rocky, limestone-heavy soils, which yield small clusters with tiny berries and super-concentrated flavors. Accented with spice and vanilla after aging in 50% new oak, the wine is well worth the extra effort and money it took to farm and vinify. In fact, we’re convinced it’d be a serious Châteauneuf-du-Pape competitor—if it wasn’t so hard to find. 

It took our friend Roland to turn us on to this one. He poured it for us blind and laughed as we tried to guess its origin. All signs pointed to something extremely high quality with a Syrah backbone. Châteauneuf-du-Pape? A California Rhône blend like L’Aventure or Alban? It seemed like we were in the ballpark, but something wasn’t adding up—and Roland was reveling in our confusion.

Knowing Roland’s love for the Southern Rhône’s elite wines, we landed on a stout Châteauneuf-du-Pape with a heavy dose of Syrah—and were shocked when he revealed that this muscled yet smooth red was from the humble western Languedoc region of Minervois. He’d been blindsided too, when he stumbled on this blockbuster on his way from Montpellier to Carcassonne. But he loaded up his car with a few bottles and gave us a call as soon as he got back to the States. It didn’t take long after our first taste for us to call the winery to secure a US exclusive allocation.

Now that allocation is here, make Minervois a permanent hotspot on your red wine map. Whether you’re a fan of powerful West Coast reds or rich Châteauneuf-du-Papes, you’ll find a lot to love about the Pépite Noir, especially for their price.