Tour and Tasting at Château Sociando Mallet, Appellation Haut-Médoc - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2019, France

Pictures: Tour and Tasting at Château Sociando Mallet, Appellation Haut-Médoc - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2019, France

Château Sociando-Mallet is a non-classified estate. However during the past decade the wines regularly outperformed other well-known estates and are regarded as wines of highest quality. The origins of the château go back to the year 1633 when the Basque nobleman Sièvre Sociando established his residence at this location. In the mid 19th century the widow Mallet bought the estate and linked the names to create Château Sociando Mallet. Château Sociando Mallet was a forgotten and dilapidated property with only 20 acres of vineyards when Jean Gautreau, a “négociant” from Lesparre bought it. He saw the potential in the fantastic vineyard sites right off the Gironde estuary and quickly expanded and replanted vineyards and brought the winemaking facilities to state of the art standards. Today Sociando Mallet has 200 acres under vine in the filet pieces of Haut Médoc.

Sybil Marquet was our host. We toured with her the winery and tasted some wines.

Pictures: Arriving at Château Sociando Mallet, Appellation Haut-Médoc

Lea and Sandeman: Sociando Mallet

Lea and Sandeman: The first village as you travel north out of Saint Estèphe is Saint-Suerin-de-Cadourne, home to a small cluster of cru bourgeois, not the least of which is Château Sociando-Mallet commanding fine views over the River Gironde to the east of the village. In the early 17th Century it was the estate of a Basque family called Sossiondo, the other half of the name coming from naval captain Achille Mallet who married the owner in 1831.

Pictures: Vineyard Tour at Château Sociando Mallet, Appellation Haut-Médoc

As with many Bordeaux estates, the late 19th and early 20th Centuries were not kind to Sociando-Mallet, so when local merchant Jean Gautreau happened upon it in 1969 it was in a sorry estate. Realising the potential, Jean bought the estate and owns it to this day. With only 5ha under vine, no cellar and the buildings in decay he had a lot to do. Vineyards were replanted, and plots were purchased from neighbours – today Sociando-Mallet, on various plots around the village spreads to 85ha – and the château and winery were refurbished and restored.

Pictures: Chai Tour at Château Sociando Mallet, Appellation Haut-Médoc

The amount of Merlot in the blend has slowly risen over the years and now accounts for 47% of the vineyard alongside 48% Cabernet Sauvignon with a little Cabernet Franc; average vine age about 30 years. The wines of Sociando-Mallet were once relatively under-priced but demand for the wine has risen as more people have come to know it, although being from outside the famous Haut-Médoc villages and the 1855 classification keeps the price under some control. Quite robust wines.

Pictures: Barrel Cellar Tour at Château Sociando Mallet, Appellation Haut-Médoc

The Future: Sylvie and Arthur

On the eve of his 90th birthday, Jean Gautreau (born in 1927) is passing on management to his daughter, Sylvie, born in 1967. She is the only child of Jean and Colette Gautreau.

Pictures: Tour of the Bottleing Area at Château Sociando Mallet, Appellation Haut-Médoc

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.

Picture: The late Jean Gautreau with his Daughter and Grandson

Tasting

Château Sociando-Mallet produces 3 wines: Sociando-Mallet, La Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet and Jean Gautreau.

Sociando-Mallet: 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.

La Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet: The Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet is produced from the younger vines of the property and the plots whose soil is more favourable to the production of very good Merlot. This grape variety represents half of the final blend of this wine. The vines for our Demoiselle cover around twenty hectares and receive the same care and are tended in the same way as the rest of the vineyard throughout the year. The "demoiselle" is a sort of dragonfly found in the Médoc. Like the dragonfly, this wine of the same name is light and elegant. The ageing of our Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet is carried out mainly in vats, to preserve the freshness and fruitiness of the Merlot. This easy-drinking wine can be enjoyed young. It is an ideal match for grilled meat and fish or shellfish dishes.

Jean Gautreau: During the vinification at Sociando-Mallet, each vat is filled with grapes from well-defined plots. Depending on the year, a full crop represents about 20 vats' worth of wine. For many years, we have set aside three barrels of wine from each separate vat when the wine is run off to have a specific idea of the quality potential of each plot.

Pictures: Tasting

In 1995, our cellarmaster had the idea of selecting fifteen barrels from among these sixty to make a blend called "Jean Gautreau". The choice of barrels is made during a blind tasting after one year of barrel ageing. A committee consisting of the cellarmaster, the oenologist, Sylvie Gautreau, and Jean Gautreau evaluates wine from each barrel. The fifteen highest scoring barrels are blended and put into special bottles. These are brown and taller than the bottles used for Sociando-Mallet to avoid any risk of confusion between the two wines.

This was never designed to be what is called a "garage wine" with extra-low yields and unusual winemaking techniques. "Jean Gautreau" is simply another version, indeed another vision, of the Sociando-Mallet spirit, offering a different blend from the estate's main wine, the taste of a captured moment. It is not more concentrated, or better, or a luxury product, or a marketing gimmick. It is just another way of apprehending Sociando-Mallet.

The "Jean Gautreau" has a higher proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon than Sociando Mallet and is a somewhat austere wine in its youth, requiring longer ageing in the bottle to reach its full potential.

We tasted:

2017 La Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet (wine-searcher average price in US$:19)
2012 Château Sociando-Mallet (wine-searcher average price in US$:49)
2002 Château Sociando-Mallet (wine-searcher average price in US$:74)

Pictures: The Wines

Lunch at Restaurant Le Peyrat in Saint-Estèphe

Following the visit of Château Sociando-Mallet, we had lunch at Le Peyrat. This unassuming, very traditional French restaurant, right on the banks of the Gironde, is always packed for lunch, because it is the favorite hangout for the winemakers of the neighboring châteaux. During harvest the pickers of Château Sociando-Mallet and other close by châteaux have lunch here.