Chateau Sociando-Mallet Haut Medoc 2016 (750ml)

 

Rated 92-94 Points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 

"The 2016 Sociando-Mallet has a refulgent purple/black color.  It has a very intense and rich, you might say "ambitious" bouquet with layers of small black cherries, blueberry and a touch of sloes, less tertiary than previous vintages and certainly more opulent.  The palate is medium-bodied with juicy ripe tannin that almost disguise the firm structure underneath.  I admire the completeness of this Sociando-Mallet, the neatly embroidered new oak and the freshness on the finish.  The 2015 Sociando-Mallet did not fire on all cylinders last year, but this 2016 is totally convincing.  It comes highly recommended as one of the best wines produced at this estate in the northern Médoc.  This is an outstanding wine from Mon. Gartreau."  Neal Martin

 

Rated 94 Points by James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

 

Tight and chewy yet polished and beautiful.  Medium to full body, a pretty core of fruit within the center palate and a flavorful finish.  Better than 2015 and on the same level as the excellent 2014.

 

Rated 94 Points by Michel Bettane - Bettane et Desseauve

 

Harmonious, complex, long, more successful and precise than in previous years, even for 2010 and 2014..."  Michel Bettane

 

Rated 92 Points by Decanter

 

Inky black in colour, with a beautiful graphite and black fruit nose.  This is undoubtedly a great Sociando this year, with precise yet juicy graphite and black fruits on the palate, from a fairly even blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with a touch of Cabernet Franc too.  Jane Anson

 

Rated 91+ Points by Antonio Galloni - Vinous

 

The 2016 Sociando Mallet is endowed with remarkable density and pure power, but it will be a number of years before the 2016 is ready to show all it’s got.  Today, the wine's sheer luxuriousness is remarkable.  Black cherry, plum, chocolate, spice and leather are all pushed forward.  This is an especially concentrated, powerful vintage for Sociando, perhaps too much, but the wine's exotic beauty is, in my view, irresistible.  Tasted two times.

 

Chateau Sociando-Mallet Haut Medoc 2016

 

Château Sociando-Mallet produces full-bodied wines with a deep, dark colour.  Their complex bouquet is usually dominated by black fruit aromas with a touch of minerality and well-integrated, elegant oak.  Often somewhat "virile" when young, the wines gain in balance and complexity with age.  They are fresh, straightforward, and have a wonderful length.

 

Château Sociando-Mallet has always been a wine with great ageing potential.  A wine to be enjoyed even after 30 years in great vintages.

 

Haut – Medoc Wine

 

Haut-Médoc is the large southern section of the greater Médoc district of Bordeaux in southwestern France.  It accounts for two-thirds of the Médoc peninsula.

 

The appellation of the same name covers red wines produced within the same zone, but outside of the six communes which have their own AOP.  Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are the main grape varieties.  White wines made in Haut-Médoc AOP vineyards are bottled as Bordeaux Blanc.

 

The Haut-Médoc zone is home to the "famous four" appellations of Margaux, Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe and Saint-Julien, as well as the less famous Listrac and Moulis.  These actually account for the majority of the wines produced within the Haut-Médoc.  The more general title is used for vineyards lying outside these communes.

 

The soil in the Haut-Médoc region is mainly composed of thick gravel layers that have been swept down river over time and now sit on a base of heavy clay.  The warm, well-drained gravel terraces provide ideal growing conditions for the late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

 

Further inland, the soils turn to deep deposits of clay.  The Merlot grape variety thrives in such places.  In recent decades it has largely usurped Cabernet Sauvignon in these parts of the Médoc. Patches of limestone and sandier soils add diversity to the more widely spread gravels, which otherwise dominate the terroir.

 

Much of the peninsula is former swamp land reclaimed by Dutch engineers in the 1600s.  This was largely prompted by foreign demand for wines from Graves to the south of Bordeaux city, and from Douro in Portugal.

 

At the northern and western extremes of the Médoc peninsula, wines are produced under the Médoc appellation.  These are the most heavily dredged areas of former swamps with little or no gravel.  Until the 1940s they were known as the Bas Médoc, as a clearer counterpoint to the Haut-Médoc, but this name was deemed unfairly negative.

 

 

Chateau Sociando-Mallet

 

"Sociando-Mallet has cult status in France.  It is easy to see why.  This Haut-Médoc has operated at the level of the Classified Growths for many years and is renowned for its purity, concentration and longevity.  In many ways this wine behaves more like a great St Estèphe, such as Château Calon Ségur or even Château Montrose, not surprising when you realise that Sociando-Mallet neighbours the St Estephe commune and has vineyards overlooking the Gironde. Jean Gautreau is the estate’s uncompromising owner."  Importer

"Sociando-Mallet has throned on the Butte de Baleyron, one of the finest gravelly terroirs in the Médoc, since 1633!  Situated in the commune of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, north of Pauillac, the vineyard overlooks the Gironde estuary on a bend in the river.

Sociando-Mallet's terroir consists of Günz gravel over a deep layer of clay-limestone soil.  This terroir perfectly regulates water supply and enables Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen extremely well and Merlot to acquire depth and complexity.  This terroir is Sociando's soul.  It provides the wine with complex structure, freshness, and elegance.

We never do de-leafing at Sociando-Mallet.  We feel that the vine needs a large foliar surface to produce enough sugar in the grapes, and also to protect the bunches from the sun's rays.  Green harvesting is not done either, out of respect for Nature's gift and the fruit of the winegrowers' work.  Yields are regulated exclusively by winter pruning.

The grape harvest lasts about 3 weeks.  The order of picking depends on the grape variety, the age of the vines, and the specific plot.

Once brought to the cellar, the bunches are sorted by hand on a conveyor belt to eliminate matter other than grapes as well as any imperfect fruit.  The grapes are then de-stemmed, gently crushed, and sent into the vats, making sure not to mix grape varieties or grapes from different plots.

This plot-by-plot selection means that each vat can be vinified in optimum conditions with a tailor-made process.  Grapes from the finest terroirs produce the grand vin."  Winery

 

Jean Gautreau,

from tennis to winegrowing…

 

Jean Gautreau was born in April 1927 in Lesparre into a family who had nothing whatsoever to do with the wine industry.  His father was an insurance agent.  Jean was an accomplished athlete.  He played football and tennis, even making it to the semi-finals of the Roland Garros Juniors competition at the age of 18.

He returned to Lesparre after his military service in Morocco and worked for the brokerage firm of Miailhe in 1948 at a time when business was very tough for the Bordeaux wine trade.  Regularly in touch with leading merchants, Jean Gautreau, aged 21, clearly saw the enormous potential – especially in Africa – for sales of an inexpensive blend consisting of wine from the Gers department with deeply-coloured wines from the Northern Médoc.  Taking advantage of this commercial opportunity, he decided to leave his job in 1950 to become an independent broker.

 

Seeing that the price of Bordeaux wine was heading inexorably upward, Jean Gautreau created his own négociant firm on 1st January 1957.  He soon found customers in Belgium and the Netherlands and developed a flourishing trade in quality Bordeaux wines.  He innovated by introducing the concept of mobile bottling units to provide château-bottled wines to his clients.

 

Jean Gautreau & Sociando-Mallet

 

Jean Gautreau discovered Sociando-Mallet in the village of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne in 1969 when looking for a wine estate to buy on behalf of a Belgian client.  It was love at first sight, despite the fact that the property was in a sorry state.  However, the terroir was excellent and the domain afforded a magnificent view overlooking the Gironde Estuary.  Jean Gautreau immediately decided to acquire it for himself for 250,000 French francs.

 

There were only 5 hectares of vines at the time.  The buildings were in bad shape and there was no barrel cellar – just a small vat room and garage.  With help and advice from Gérard Cler, a previous employee at the château, Jean Gautreau made an acceptable first vintage and a superb second one.  He was helped by the fact that Sociando-Mallet's extraordinary terroir, consisting of Günz gravel with clay subsoil, is propitious to growing excellent Cabernet Sauvignon and producing wines with wonderful freshness.  Jean Gautreau expanded the vineyard year after year by buying vines from his neighbours.  Seeking the best possible quality, he also renovated the estate’s buildings, built a barrel cellar, and gradually improved the choice of grape varieties, matching the appropriate ones to each vineyard plot.

 

Today, the property is comprised of 83 hectares producing nearly 450,000 bottles a year of Château Sociando-Mallet and the second wine, Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet.  Jean Gautreau sold his négociant business in 2000 and now focuses entirely on managing his wine estate.

 

History of the Chateau

 

Château Sociando-Mallet is in the commune of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, ten kilometres north of Pauillac, in the Haut-Médoc appellation.  A document dating from March 1633 refers to land here belonging to an aristocrat of Basque origin named Sociondo.  A member of his family was Bishop of Bayonne.  Another document, from 1750 mentions vines belonging to Demoiselle Anne de Sossiondo.  Due to various misspellings over the years, "Sossiondo" became "Sociando".

 

The archives show that Guillaume de Brochon, a royalist solicitor who lived at Sociando, was arrested during the French Revolution in 1793.  His estate was impounded, sold at auction by the revolutionary government, and acquired by his father-in-law, Jean Lamothe.

 

In 1831, Marie-Elisabeth Alaret, Lamothe's niece and owner of Sociando, married Achille Mallet, a naval officer.  As it was the custom at the time to add one's name to an estate, the château was thereafter known as Sociando-Mallet.

 

The Alaret family owned Sociando-Mallet until 1878, when it came into the hands of Léon Simon.

 

Between then and the arrival of Jean Gautreau, the château belonged to: the wine merchant firm of Delor, Louis Roullet (Mayor of Saint-Seurin), and then Emile Tereygeol, who also owned Pontoise-Cabarrus at that time.

 

Today

 

On the eve of his 90th birthday, Jean Gautreau is passing on management to his daughter, Sylvie, born in 1967.  She is the only child of Jean and Colette Gautreau.

Sociando-Mallet was Sylvie's playground as a child.  She accompanied her father from a very early age and learnt to observe the vines closely and to watch the grapes ripen.  Nowadays she takes part in the regular technical tastings and enjoys choosing the final blend with the team.
 

She lives and breathes Sociando-Mallet, her land, and exemplifies the spirit of the château.  She is Sociando.  Furthermore, Sylvie is gradually instilling this spirit in her son, Arthur.