Wine Advisor
Sociando Mallet 2004
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
This Sociando Mallet is at a rather awkward stage at the moment: lots of cedary black fruits, smoke and cigar box all with good definition. The palate is medium-bodied, rather sulky and backward, certainly a wine that needs time to coalesce. Dense tannic finish, firm grip, quite austere – this definitely needs time to pull together. Drink 2012-2020. Tasted November 2008.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2004 Sociando-Mallet is a broodingly backward, concentrated wine with an inky blue/purple color as well as hints of graphite, crushed rocks, creme de cassis, and underbrush. Deep, chewy, structured, and tannic, it represents a long-term proposition. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2025+.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Consistently performing above its pedigree, in most vintages, Sociando Mallet is one of the longest-lived and finest wines of Bordeaux. The 2004's inky/blue/purple color is followed by an elegant bouquet of white flowers, blue fruits, and cassis. This medium-bodied, pure, streamlined, deep, super-concentrated effort possesses high, but sweet tannin. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Dark red with ruby highlights. Plum, redcurrant and a whiff of smoked meat on the nose. Supple and vinous, with very good spine and savory character. Notes of plum, currant, dark chocolate and licorice firmed by lively but integrated acidity. Finishes with broad tannins and good grip. Will the 2006 show as much mid-palate stuffing as this by the time it's bottled?
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Good ruby-red. Classic aromas of dark raspberry, plum, chocolate and spicy oak. Cooler in the mouth than the young 2005, but chewy, supple and sweet, with bright acidity giving cut to the expressive flavors of dark berries, leather, licorice, herbs and black olive. This has a lush texture for 2004, and the tannins are suave.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(a blend of 55% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot and 5% cabernet franc, as was the case with the 2003) Full ruby-red. Black fruits, violet, licorice and dark chocolate on the nose. Full, dense and sweet, with lively flavors of black raspberry and dark chocolate. Finishes with very fine tannins. The cabernet was harvested at even higher grape sugars than it was in 2003, notes Gautreau.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Sociando Mallet’s big, extracted, rich, classic 2004 boasts a deep ruby/purple hue as well as aromas of charcoal, wet stones, cold steel, and abundant black currant and cassis fruit. This medium to full-bodied, structured, powerful wine will benefit from 4-5 years of cellaring. It should last for two decades.
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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