Wine Advisor
Sociando Mallet 1983
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 1983 Sociando-Mallet was picked from September 28 until October 13. It has a generous bouquet for the vintage, featuring dark red fruit, pomegranate, rooibos, fennel and pressed flowers. It immediately responds to aeration, gaining intensity although never becoming as complex as the 1982. The citric palate is medium-bodied with slightly rustic tannin, pointed and almost tart red fruit and a slightly austere finish that I suspect had more fruité five or 10 years ago. It’s a credible wine for the vintage, although I would drink it soon. Tasted at the vertical tasting at 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."
1982(1)
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