Chateau Sociando Mallet
You can find Château Sociando Mallet on the left bank of the Bordeaux, in the Haut-Médoc appellation. The estate has been around since 1633 and was previously the residence of the Basque nobleman Sièvre Sociando. Two centuries later, the estate was taken over by Madame Mallet. These two surnames form the current name of the winery. In 1969, Jean Gautreau took over the domain. Unfortunately, the estate was in a neglected state at that time. Jean decided to scale up and make a big investment. When he bought the castle, there were less than 10 hectares planted, but he has expanded this to almost 85 hectares.
The vineyards are scattered in the municipality of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne. The vineyards offer a magnificent view over the Gironde. The soil consists mainly of pebbles, a soil that is much loved by the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. So, the Cabernet sauvignon and merlot dominate the plantings. A small part of the plantation consists of cabernet franc.
The updated wine cellar consists of concrete barrels, new stainless-steel tanks and the most modern equipment. The wines of Sociando Mallet are fermented in the traditional way. Only indigenous yeasts are used, which are naturally present on the grapes. Then, the grapes are fermented in the concrete and stainless steel vats. The vats are pumped over daily to achieve optimal aroma and color extraction. After fermentation, it is decided which barrel is intended for the Sociando-Mallet cuvée. This wine is aged for 12 months in wooden barrels made of 100% new French oak. The winery's second wine is La Demoissele. This wine is also aged in new barrels.
The wines of Sociando Mallet have a very good price-quality ratio. And that makes the wines very popular among enthusiasts. The best vintages of Sociando Mallet are: 1982, 1989, 1990, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Read more