Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Although these wines are normally reviewed by my colleagues David Schildknect in his Languedoc-Roussillon and Alsace reports and Lisa Perrotti-Brown in her reviews of Australian wines, I tasted them during my visit with Chapoutier, so I will include them in this report as they are of high quality and merit attention.
-
Wine & Spirits
This site within the Malakoff Vineyard, planted by Michel Chapoutier and Doug Fletcher (of Terlato Wines) in 1998, produces scant yields of one ton per acre. Planted on an east-facing slope of the Pyrenees, the vineyard produced a cool, umami-rich shiraz in 2011. More a food than a wine, this focuses on meaty, gamey scents of pork broth, mushrooms, tomato skin and peppery spice. It leaves the mouth feeling clean and bright, ready to enliven pigeon or partridge braised with wild mushrooms.
-
Wine Spectator
Sleek and lively with acidity, this red is restrained overall, spreading its flavors of plum, black olive and sweet leather over a fine-grained frame, lilting on the finish.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Nestled into the tip of its southeastern coastline, Victoria is Australia’s smallest mainland state, second most populous and third largest wine producer. Victoria includes the cool regions of Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Geelong, made famous mainly by impressive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The more inland Heathcote and Bendigo lead the way for complex and textured, full-bodied reds. Rutherglen’s fortified wines compete among the best on the planet.