CHÂTEAU SOCIANDO MALLET

2017 Haut Médoc

EN PRIMEUR

A medium bodied Haut Médoc with impressive polish and a notable lightness of touch. The cherry and dark berry fruit is beautifully fresh and nicely balanced by the soft, silky tannin. There's just enough stuffing in the mid-palate to carry this through to a lovely spice-inflected finish. Really quite refined and very enjoyable to taste. This should be ready to drink relatively soon. Drinking range: 2022 - 2035 Rating: 90 L&S (Apr 2018)

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The 2017 Sociando Mallet has quite a high-toned bouquet with macerated black cherries, boysenberry jam and top end violet scents. This is a more showy Sociando than of late. The palate is medium-bodied with soft tannin, moderate depth, a more refined wine than I was expecting with a smooth, supple blackberry and bilberry finish laced with white pepper. There is a word I never expected to use apropos Sociando Mallet...gentle. Drinking range: 2022 - 2036 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)

Inky crimson with black core. Dusty cassis nose. Leafy on the palate, juicy and fresh but could do with a little more flesh in the middle. Very firm grip on the finish. Dark and savoury aftertaste. Drinking range: 2027 - 2034 Rating: 16 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)

The 2017 Sociando-Mallet is medium to deep garnet-purple in color with a spicy nose over a red plums and red currants core plus a waft of underbrush. The palate is medium-bodied with a well-judged, approachable structure and plenty of freshness, finishing fruity. Rating: 87-89 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)

This shows focus and brightness for a 2017 with firm and silky tannins and a vivid character. Fine and polished texture. Beautiful. Close to the 2015. Rating: 91-92 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2018)

The first village as you travel north out of Saint Estèphe is Saint-Suerin-de-Cadourne, home to a small cluster of cru bourgeois, not the least of which is Château Sociando-Mallet commanding fine views over the River Gironde to the east of the village. In the early 17th Century it was the estate of a Basque family called Sossiondo, the other half of the name coming from naval captain Achille Mallet who married the owner in 1831. As with many Bordeaux estates, the late 19th and early 20th Centuries were not kind to Sociando-Mallet, so when local merchant Jean Gautreau happened upon it in 1969 it was in a sorry estate. Realising the potential, Jean bought the estate and owns it to this day. With only 5ha under vine, no cellar and the buildings in decay he had a lot to do. Vineyards were replanted, and plots were purchased from neighbours – today Sociando-Mallet, on various plots around the village spreads to 85ha – and the château and winery were refurbished and restored. The amount of Merlot in the blend has slowly risen over the years and now accounts for 47% of the vineyard alongside 48% Cabernet Sauvignon with a little Cabernet Franc; average vine age about 30 years. The wines of Sociando-Mallet were once relatively under-priced but demand for the wine has risen as more people have come to know it, although being from outside the famous Haut-Médoc villages and the 1855 classification keeps the price under some control. Quite robust wines.