2017 Domaine Terlato & Chapoutier Shiraz Lieu-Dit Malakoff Pyrenees Australia 750 ml

Michel Chapoutier is one of the world’s greatest masters of Syrah.

Thanks to his $300+ Hermitage wines, he holds 44 100-Point scores in Wine Advocate alone, nearly as many as Marcel Guigal and Jean-Louis Chave put together (45).

When Chapoutier expanded to Australia, Robert Parker catapulted his project to international renown, calling Chapoutier’s first effort from own-rooted Shiraz vines “a lusty Australian blockbuster.” The monumental 2017 Lieu-Dit Malakoff delivers on that promise. A deep, supple red, it offers a glimpse of Chapoutier’s iconic style, making it a steal at $46—the usual going rate in the US—but we have it for far less.

We’ve long recognized Michel Chapoutier’s talent for taming single-vineyard Syrahs into wines of power and elegance, and that’s what he’s managed to do in Australia—maintaining a Shiraz with elements of a peppery Rhône Syrah.

Forward and generous like the best of Aussie Shiraz, the 2017 Malakoff is layered in its aromatic richness. With firmly structured, silky tannins and a complex core of rich fruit and exotic wild game, it glides across the palate before crescendoing into a long, spice-laden finish.

Malakoff Vineyard stretches out over 46 acres in Western Central Victoria that were still undeveloped at the turn of the century. But Chapoutier saw promise in the rolling hills and own-rooted, Phylloxera-free vines—a rare luxury that allows the Shiraz to express its purest character. 

The Shiraz grapes from this site experience the full ripening power of the bright Southern Hemisphere sun, while continual cool breezes mitigate temperatures in the vineyard. The result is rich and distinctive Shiraz that has excellent acidity, and will keep evolving over the next decade or more.