Wine Advisor
Sociando Mallet 1982
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Bright ruby/purple, with no lightening at the edge, this 1982 offers up aromas of pure, sweet, roasted nuts, along with mineral-laced black currants. Medium to full-bodied and structured, with high tannin and vibrant youthfulness, this wine has not evolved as much as I expected. Anticipated maturity: 2003-2020.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This amazing cru bourgeois estate produced a 1982 that remains young and vibrant with little sign of evolution. Even from half bottles, the wine exhibits a saturated dark purple color with no lightening at the edge. The nose could be that of a 1990, revealing exuberant, pure, ripe blackcurrant aromas intermixed with scents of minerals and spices. Full-bodied, with high extraction, copious quantities of glycerin, and huge tannin, this is a young, backward, impressively-endowed Sociando-Mallet that may prove to be one of the slowest agers of the vintage. Give this classic wine another 5-6 years of cellaring and drink it through the first two decades of the next century. Tasted 15 times since bottling with consistent notes.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
One of the great wines of the vintage in the Médoc, from perfectly conserved bottles, the 1982 Sociando-Mallet continues to display extraordinary vitality and intensity of flavor at age 40. Wafting from the glass with aromas of cassis, burning embers, pencil shavings and sweet soil tones, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a racy spine of acidity and sweet, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, penetrating finish.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at Pebbles/Zachy’s 1982 dinner in Hong Kong. The Sociando Mallet 1982 has a fine, minerally bouquet with touches of bell pepper, mulch and chalk dust. It shows fine clarity – a vivacious nose. The palate has a sharp, slightly pinched entry that opens up to offer of tobacco-infused black fruit. There is a leafy, autumnal feel to this Sociando Mallet and there is a touch of rawness towards the finish. But it has certainly held up well over 30 years, though I cannot see it improving any further. Tasted November 2012.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1982 Sociando-Mallet is a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, picked from September 17 to October 3. It has a lovely bouquet of red currant and cranberry fruit, warm bricks (terracotta?), a touch of Marmite and dried herbs. Maybe a little rustic, but there is plenty of freshness and complexity. The palate is well balanced with dry tannin and vestiges of red berry fruit. The earthy notes are more pronounced than in another bottle tasted in February 2017. But there is still freshness and depth here, plus a welcome pinch of black pepper and sage toward the finish. Perhaps this is approaching the end of a long drinking plateau, but nevertheless, it’s a great Sociando-Mallet. Tasted at the vertical tasting at Sociando-Mallet.
About the Producer
Château Sociando-Mallet is located in the Haut-Medoc, a region rich in Cru Bourgeois, but it is not precisely a Cru Bourgeois, not because it is not qualified, but because the owners felt that its excellence did not need to be judged by outsiders. The Château did not take part in either the 1855 Grand Cru de Médoc or the 1932 Cru Bourgeois. But with the quality of its wines, Château Marly has a real chance of winning the Cru Bourgeois! The grapes are hand-harvested, fermented in large concrete vats, clarified with egg white and placed in oak barrels. The grapes are hand-harvested, fermented in large concrete vats, clarified with egg white and aged in oak barrels to absorb the oak and soften the tannins. The Chateau Sociando-Mallet is aged for three months in oak barrels, with 100% new oak. The secondary wine of Château Sociando-Mallet is "LaDemoiselle de Sociando-Mallet". Thanks to Jean Gautreau's meticulous winemaking and good management, Château Mallet is fast becoming a class apart from the Cru Bourgeois and even the Grand Cru. The wines have a good structure and firm tannins, with a long finish, a characteristic that is usually found only at the Grand Cru level and above, but Château Marly is so capable that it has been described as "one of the highest quality AOCs in the entire Médoc". In the better vintages of Château Marly, Robert Parker gave it a score of 90 points, commenting: "A classic nose with a mix of cassis, graphite, ore and earth, a medium depth of body, a concentrated structure and, as always, outstanding quality, Château Marly always produces long-lived wines capable of ageing for 20-30 years. Great wines."
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