Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This wine is impressive and vertically structured, with quality tannins in very good quantities. Pencil shavings, graphite, minerals, cassis, paprika and fresh blackberries. Compact, dusty and full-bodied, with a tight and lengthy finish. This shows excellent potential for aging. For Haut-Medoc, this is often a smart buy. 63% merlot, 35% cabernet sauvignon and 2% cabernet franc.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Sociando-Mallet is a beauty, wafting from the glass with aromas of cassis, plums, pencil shavings, espresso roast, licorice and violets. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's velvety and layered, with powdery tannins and a long, penetrating finish. It's a blend of 63% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc.
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Decanter
Intensely fragrant on the nose, richly concentrated black fruits and cool freshness. Mouthwatering acidity adds to quite cool blue fruits with graphite edges giving more freshness than fruit concentration which is nice. Tannins are well integrated, present but supportive and not overwhelming. Keeps a sleek frame and intention from start to finish. A really appealing wine that feels well worked, but still with density and minerality.
Barrel Sample: 92
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
While it claims the same basic landscape as the Medoc—only every so slightly elevated above river level—the Haut Medoc is home to all of the magnificent chateaux of the Left Bank of Bordeaux, creating no lack of beautiful sites to see.
These chateaux, residing over the classed-growth cru in the villages of Margaux, Moulis, Listrac, St-Julien, Pauillac and St. Estephe are within the Haut Medoc appellation. Though within the confines of these villages, any classed-growth chateaux will most certainly claim village or cru status on their wine labels.
Interestingly, some classed-growth cru of the Haut Medoc fall outside of these more famous villages and can certainly be a source of some of the best values in Bordeaux. Deep in color, and concentrated in ripe fruit and tannins, these wines (typically Cabernet Sauvignon-based) often prove the same aging potential of the village classed-growths. Among these, the highest ranked chateaux are Chateau La Lagune and Chateau Cantemerle.