Updated: Jan 4, 2024
Every time I tasted the bottles, I became contemplative- almost meditative. Sociando Mallet uniquely shapes my tasting career: it helps form my concept of wine quality. But what struck me most about Sociando Mallet is their consistency. Not only are they excellent in the good years, but they are also very well made in the less vintages. While it's always true that not all tasters like the Socialndo Mallet style, its performance, at least in the eyes of Parker et al., is always far better in structure, harmony, elegance and balance than some of the Crus, regardless of the vintage conditions.
Based in the Haut-Medoc just north of St Estephe, Sociando Mallet did not exist at the time of the 1855 classification and had no chance to opt to enter the Cru Bourgeois system. Neither a classed growth nor a Cru Bourgeois, Sociando-Mallet is structurally placed as an anomaly. To me, Sociando-Mallet is just too good to be classified. And this query, whether we need classification systems, is always on my mind.
The average age of the vines is 35 years, with 55% being Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc; hence, there are always complexities and intensities with the wines. The great vineyard sites, which lie on gravel over a clay-limestone subsoil sloping down to the river, are unusual in that they ripen quicker than their more southerly counterparts and are, therefore, picked earlier. The Chateau’s wines are always matured in 100% new barrels; hence, there is always a spectrum of nose and taste.
This is rare for a non-classed growth, but the fact the wines absorb this amount of new oak so comfortably underlines their structure and quality. With 20 years of age for these six off-vintage sets, all vintages are woven with silky fruit/wood tannins with unique wine structures. Yet all vintage shows peculiar characters. All vintages tasted are rough: 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Fruit tones(primary, secondary, and tertiary) remain balanced overall.
2002 reflects the fruity character of the vintage. Deep ruby with a medium garnet rim gives a classic Haut Medoc bouquet with a pleasant fruity touch and melted tar and graphite aromas with time. Masculine and earthy, the palate is somewhat grainy, barely drying, and in synthesis with the structure. This 2002 is precisely the kind of good work Sociando Mallet can do in a difficult vintage.
2003 is mega-concentrated. With silky tannins, sappy acidity, and excellent fruit length, the fruit nose is primary mainly, with few signs of evolution. Tannins are sweet. With deep ruby with a medium garnet rim, it noses notes of blackberries, blackcurrants and a pleasant touch of eucalyptus. On the palate, it is fruity, fresh, balanced and persistent finish(tones of cedar, leather, spices).
2007 gives medium ruby red with a tight garnet rim. Roasted notes mark the bouquet with a little fruity expression. Allowed it to breathe, there are notes of ripe, black fruit. On the palate, the wine is slightly creamy and balanced. However, just like the bouquet, it struggles to express itself. It may need more time.
2012 is fresher—a deep purple colour with a tight pink rim. Sweetish dark fruit, ripe tannins, decent acidity, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel and stunning cassis fruit in the finish put this wine right amid the best-classified Crus from the Médoc not classified. Go figure. Soft and easy to drink, this wine will still age beautifully for another five years.
2014. Deep ruby with a tight rim. It shows lots of potential. Intense Blackcurrant tones. Smoky aroma; austere, robust build, dense, of good length, tensioned; the style has remained faithfully Sociando-Mallet, but compared to the primeur pattern, it appears harsher and has lost some of its balance—mineral finish, full-bodied, structured, as intense as the nose. It could taste too intense for some. Steadfast.
2017. Deep ruby with a tight rim. Red fruited; turns dark fruited on creation. Almost emblemic- toasty, dense, total, powerful structure, robust tannins, good length; very secure and reliable. It's a medium-bodied Haut Medoc classic at the Cru level. Starts drinking now.
What wrote on the wine by CellarTracker Jeff Leve wrote in 2017, we still apply 'firm, dusty, medium-bodied, bright, crisp and with an earthy, smoky, mineral-driven, red berry, coffee bean and herbal quality.' There is a lifted acidity, which throws the wine out of balance. Beausejour Duffau is always dense and weighty, and this bottle of 2007 remains so: thick and spicy with touches of wood, cinnamon, dusty tannins and an open sweet plum flavour. This wine may not be for the tasters looking for finesse. Excellent value.
Scores are in the 91 range.
Opaque violet; with a tight, pick rim. To start, suppressed nose of cassis, raspberry and plum aromas uncovered. After that come the cedar and cigar box tones; there are good dark fruit, cedary and chocolate flavours on the palate, with grippy tannins, spice, and acidity that hold onto the fruit and show some juiciness. The spicy finish outlasts the fruit, which is not bad for the class—a medium finish.
Slight oxygenation in the glass will serve well. The drinking window is relatively narrow and probably within one hour.
A famous second wine from Margaux. Still easy to drink, with its 60% Merlot fruit backed up by 40% Cabernet, which forms its structure.
Scores adequate for a second wine, like CT90.
