TN: 13 vintages of Sociando-Mallet

A nice group - old friends and new- met at Sutton Inn last night for a Sociando-Mallet vertical. Restaurant did a nice job- we shared a couple of charcuterie platters, then I had a pea soup with pinenuts and quail egg, onion gnocchi with gruyere, and lamb shank.

2013 Montbourgeau L’Etoile (Jura)
Nutty/sherry nose, interesting but not my thing. C+

Then to the reds

1986 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
A little muted at first, opens up; Sturdy, cassis and a bit of cigarbox. B+

1986 blind wine
I was doing more social engineering than tasting for my guessing. I was thinking JC might have brought Meyney (since Sociando is near St Estephe and similarly priced) but different profile. Green tobacco leaf (petit verdot?) , dark fruits, some earthy notes. JC said Haut Medoc and I got La Lagune B+
1982 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
I’ve liked this a lot in the past, at least this bottle is on downslope though still enjoyable. Leather, cigar smoke, dirt over slightly tired red fruit. B

1988 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
A bit of barnyard on nose, still plenty of tannin, black plum and cassis with some dirt. B/B+

1988 blind wine - structured, coffee and cassis, slightly tacky tannin. Someone (Greg?) got St. Estephe quickly. I think others liked a lot more than I did. 1988 Cos d’Estournel B

1989 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
This was corked, but Ross had brought a backup bottle, and we were glad he did! Redder fruit, mocha, fresh green herbs, long. MY WOTN . A-
1990 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Ripe, round, some tannin but approachable. B+/A-

1995 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
This was clearly flawed., One person thought corked, but I didn’t get TCA, just some OTT VA and oxidative notes. Ramon offered to open a ‘99 backup, but we demurred- too much wine

1996 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Cassis, acids, the most clear green pepper till now but well-integrated, I think I liked more than some B+/A-
2000 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Pretty coiled, cassis, green pepper, I think has potential. B+/B

2004 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Bell pepper out in force here, but also some nice red fruits and ferric notes, some oak. B/B+

I don’t drink much young Bordeaux any more, so with that and palate fatigue notes get sketchy. Take with an extra grain (or teaspoon) of salt.
2009 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Ripe, kirschy, wood. Not my thing. B-/C+

2010 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Also quite ripe, but here there seems to be more balance, with good acids and tannins seeming to be less from the oak. B/B+
2011 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Acids, tannin, some cassis, a little hollow. B/B-

2016 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Cassis, mocha, big but balanced tannins. This could be really good. B+

Fun night with fun people.


Grade disclaimer: I’m a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn’t drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Dale - great notes and judging from your grades, who would of believed me if I had said that we would be in agreement with the top 3 wines on the night! I also fully agree that it was a fun night; food, wine and company as we got an in-depth look at the wines of Sociando-Mallet over a 34 year window.

Jura sherried whites are not my thing either and I guess that means I too am not hip [snort.gif]

I will reiterate my stance that I was the one person that picked up TCA and deemed the 1995 corked and not cooked [tease.gif]

Glad you enjoyed my 1986 mystery wine.

That was me that guessed Saint Estephe for the 1988 mystery wine and it could not have been Greg as he was the one that brought it [berserker.gif]

Let’s also improve your opening post with a picture of the lineup!
B14065AA-3113-4097-94C9-5FF0081C4374.jpeg

Killer line-up! I’d be in heaven.

Great night, thank you to everyone. JC is correct, he was the one that (impressively) identified the Cos as a St. Estephe quite quickly.

To me the 89 was clearly the wine of the night - wonderful nose, precise, great finish. We caught it in a perfect place, I think. I thought the 2000 was a bit too green for me and the 2009 bottle makes me glad I haven’t bought 2009 Bordeaux. That was very ripe.

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I’ve never met you Robert, and I thought “the 2000 is an Alfert wine if ever I’ve had one” champagne.gif

Thanks for the notes and impressions, gentlemen. I enjoyed the evening, especially the company, and even including the GoT veiled conversations.

When this was broached up, I thought there’d be only about 4 people who’d end up at the end, as a few quickly indicated disinterest and were removed from the initial “who’s interested” email. Well, I’m glad other Sociando-heads and those who were simply interested, stepped up and joined in on the fun.

Vintages 1989, 1996 and 1990/2000 (tied) rocked my boat the most. But the vintages we had beyond 2000 just did not have the classic veggie-herby Sociando traits that I like and were clearly Bordeaux, just Bordeaux, and not very Sociando Bordeaux.

Also, appreciated the ringers that were brought blind. Good contrast and both were good wines.

Always glad to be able to catch up with the regulars and semi-regulars, as well as with the ones that I met for the first time.

It was a great dinner and chance to taste so many vintages. I think I liked the 82 more than most as it was more delicate compared to the other vintages (I think someone called it dirty…which I can see). As with the comments below…as we got to the newer vintages, I really didn’t enjoy them as much. Probably a combination of style drift and they were too young.

Haha, yes, I’ve bought and consumed a lot of this vintage. And every now and then I pop one and say . . .

EADD7609-815F-4845-9519-44BC34E6536B.jpeg
. . . That some green sh*t!”

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the 1996 SM was a screaming good wine at age 10-15. It was better then, IMO. But when it was at its best, it was one fantastic wine.

Style shift at Sociando? Say it ain’t so!

1989… the real vintage of the century.