Chateau Sociando Mallet '50th Anniversary' 2018

Chateau Sociando-Mallet is an outperforming Cru Bourgeois property located in the commune of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne in the Haut-Médoc. Quality was inconsistent until the property was purchased by Jean Gautreau in 1969. As Jean Gautreau says: "I have a superb terroir which I want to express in the wine. I try to make a classic Médoc for long keeping" Chateau Sociando-Mallet is one of those delightful anomalies of Bordeaux.

Parker rates Sociando-Mallet as one of Bordeaux's greatest overachievers "Regardless of vintage conditions, Jean Gautreau does everything right," says Robert Parker, who rates Sociando as 'one of Bordeaux's greatest overachievers.'

There is fantastic purity of black fruit with blackberries and ripe raspberries. Floral and bright. Full-bodied, compact palate with super polished tannins. Really fantastic.

The 2018 Sociando Mallet, which comes wrapped in a resplendent 50th-anniversary label to celebrate the late Jean Gautreau's acquisition of the estate, takes some time to really coalesce on the nose, eventually revealing boysenberry and mulberry scents and cedar and light earthy aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins that belie the concentration of this Sociando-Mallet. Very cohesive, it delivers plenty of red fruit mixed with sous-bois and tobacco, though there is just a little more dryness on the finish than I was expecting. Give it 3–5 years in bottle if you can. 2023 - 2048.