Weird sequence here as we had the 2002 Sociando-Mallet at lunch in a restaurant with a glorious medium-rare Sicilian pork loin with morels and cream. We then followed this with a couple of glasses of Gelas Armagnac thinking this was the end of the meal. Well lo and behold, we ended up extending this and I felt like a 2016 Picasses would hit the spot.
I can understand this ranking since the 2002 does show less pizzazz but this bottle on. It is an understated Sociando in a way, leaner, elegant. The nose is a complex match of green pepper, leather, some cedar and tobacco but very little fruit. It’s a savory profile. The palate is medium bodied. The little fruit there is is mostly cassis with hints of red berries but the lip-smacking savory tones are wonderful: root vegetables, tobacco, black soil and dry earth. It was my buddy’s first experience with this wine and he kept on smelling and sipping. The tannins are about 3/4 of the way integrated with a nice little kiss on the finish. Medium acidity. The finish is long on all those umami flavors and a mineral twang. Score. If you like your Sociando with less fruit and more savory, this bottle was right on.
This was a nice follow-up to the Sociando. I served it at cellar temp initially since the temperature has yet to go down here (32oC as I’m writing this, expecting the storm to hit tonight and the temperature to go down this weekend). I really like the 2016. I’ve seen some positive and negative reviews here and on CT but gosh darn it, every bottle I have opened hit the spot for me. We’re on the savory spectrum once again: green, earth, leather and some pepperiness. The fruit is there with notes of plums and a tad of red berries. Medium-minus / Light-plus body, fine tannins showing up and hitting the gums, Medium-minus acidity and decent finish with some crushed stones/salinity showing up and inviting lip-smack. I’m really liking those 2016 as the jack-of-all-trades. I can see pairing this with a bunch of foods.
All in all, a fine extended lunch.