Chateau Sociando-Mallet

Chateau Sociando-Mallet was neither in the 1855 classification nor the cru bourgeois in 1932, but continues to outperform many of its neighbors in producing high quality wines. The proprietor Jean Gautreau has opted to stay outside of the system, and along with his right-hand man and son-in-law Vincent Faure, stays focused with investment, new projects and cuvees, to improve their wines.

The history dates back to the early 17^th century, with a Basque nobleman called Sossiondo taking the residence of the estate in 1633. During the French Revolution the estate was under a prominent lawyer named Guillaume de Brochon, who was prosecuted and the property broken up for sale.

The new owner was Lamothe, and subsequently passed to a naval captain called Achille Mallet, so the property was renamed Sociando-Mallet. Captain Mallet’s widow later sold the estate to Alaret, then it further changed hands many times, to Leon Simon, the negociant firm Delor, Louis Roullet, and lastly Francois Tereygeol. Unfortunately the estate was in a deterioration state throughout the years.

The latter proprietor then sold the estate to Jean Gautreau in 1969. Jean Gautreau originally worked for Jean Miailhe before starting a negociant business in Lesparre-Medoc. While looking for a vineyard for a wealthy Belgian client, he came to Sociando-Mallet, a dilapidated property by then, with the vineyards reduced to only a few hectares.

Upon ploughing the soil he found the promising gravel contents, which are typical for the renown properties like Cos d’Estournel, Pichon-Lalande, and Leoville-Las-Cases. He decided to purchase the estate and further acquiring more land, expanding the size from 8 to more than 110 hectares, of which 90 hectares are planted with vines.

Even at the age of more than 90 years old, Jean remains a very active person in inspecting the vines and overseeing the work at harvest, but now his daughter Sylvie and son-in-law Vincent Faure are more commonly encountered on site. Vincent had worked in Chateau Latour for six years before joining Sociando-Mallet in 1998.

The vineyards are located in the commune of St Seurin de Cadourne, not far from Lesparre-Medoc, a few minute north of St-Estephe. The vineyard is on a gravel croupe that slopes away from the buildings at the top of the estate. The plots purchased throughout the years are less prestigious, with more sand than gravel, planted with a combination of Merlot at the top of the slope, and Cabernet Sauvignon at the bottom.

Jean decided to sell some unwanted parcels as a result, just holding on those he really wanted. He also replanted some of the vines on the slopes, with Cabernet Sauvignon on the upper stretches and Merlot the lower. Even though there is more risk of frost, the focus is to strive for quality as deemed by Jean.

Now with 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, at a density of 8333 vines per hectare, the vines are pruned to leave around 6-8 bunches per vine. The yield is a healthy 80 hl/ha, with proof that the quality has been maintained if not improved.

The soils are ploughed rather than grassed over, with no deleafing aiming to increase exposure to sun and helping ventilation of the leaf canopy, reducing the risk of rot. There is also no green harvesting, nor fungicidal spraying. Harvest is manual, before going to twin sorting tables, with the fruit normally destemmed and pressed before going into fermentation vessels.

Stainless steel vats were added in 1998 and again in 2008 to allow for temperature control, and maceration is carried out for several weeks before ageing in oak. Two blendings are done, one after fermentation and the other after the ageing in oak to produce the final assemblage.

During elevage, the wine is racked every six months. The free-run wine is not filtered but if any pressed wine is used there will be light filtering. The grand vin Chateau Sociando-Mallet, about 20000 cases made per made, goes into 95% new oak, with the remaining 5% in stainless steel vat, to bring freshness to the wine.

The second wine La Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet will see 65-75% new oak and the remaining left in stainless steel. There is also a special cuvee named after Jean Gautreau, seeing 100% new oak with malolactic in oak. And in 2010 there is a special assemblage with 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, a rare example of varietal from the left bank.

I have recently tasted the 2009 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, the wine is of deep intensity purple color, with legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium intensity, showing black fruit of blackcurrant, blackberry and plum, oak notes of vanilla and cedar, kernel notes of chocolate, pungent spice of licorice, some herbal notes of blackcurrant leaf. The wine is youthful.  

Palate

Dry and medium (+) in acidity, the wine has medium (+) tannin which is sinewy and quite gripping, with medium alcohol and medium (+) body. Having medium intensity on the flavors, it shows black fruit of blackcurrant, blackberry and plum, oak notes of cedar, sweet spice of nutmeg, some mineral notes of earth, and hints of maturity notes of tobacco. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion

Good quality Bordeaux left-bank red with a good nose though still not showing any development and quite young, dominated by fruit and oak, the wine has a refreshing palate with good acidity, plenty of fruit and concentration. The tannin however is still very high and needs time to mellow, but the finish is fairly long, showing the potential. This wine is a bit too young to drink now, and can further develop for another 4-6 years.