Sociando Mallet 2019

Notes of minty cassis, cigar wrapper and loamy soil, deftly framed by toasty new oak, introduce the 2019 Sociando-Mallet, a medium to full-bodied, rich and concentrated wine that’s incipiently complex and elegantly muscular in profile. The style of the vintage has lent this more youthful polish than is sometimes the case, and it will offer a broad drinking window. - drink 2026-2056

Sociando-Mallet has long been a favorite of Bordeaux insiders, and it's easy to understand why. Occupying the same terrace of Gunzian gravel that one finds at estates such as Montrose, Léoville-Las Cases and Latour, and planted at a high density of 8,333 vines per hectare, it's located just to the north of Saint-Estèphe, right on the banks of the Gironde. That location, delivering temperatures some two to three degrees Celsius cooler than Margaux to the south, combined with clay subsoils, means that this estate invariably delivers especially fine performances in warm, dry vintages (the 2003 is showing beautifully today, for example). And although it wasn't planted in 1855, and thus isn't a classified growth, Sociando-Mallet's performance in blind tastings tells its own story. Director François Hugueniot told me that his team accelerated picking in 2019, harvesting everything in only 13 days, and the results are excellent. Sadly, 2019 will also be remembered as the year when proprietor Jean Gautreau, who created Sociando-Mallet from scratch, passed away. He is succeeded by his daughter, Sylvie.

Redcurrants with sweet tobacco, hazelnut, mint and moist earth, following through to a medium to full body, ultra-fine tannins and a palate that grows at the finish. Needs a minimum of three or four years to come around. Try after 2025.