Tasted at a negociant. The Sociando '09 has an intense blackberry and briary scented nose, touches of black plum and a hint of fruitcake. The palate is immediate enjoyable: very well balanced, finer tannins than I was expecting, delineated and focused with some lovely black, tar/cedar fruit towards the finish. Good length and precision. This is a great Sociando for the vintage. Tasted March 2010.

Ferocious tannins are not unusual for Sociando Mallet, but I was surprised that in a vintage that produced exceptionally tannic, but ripe wines, the Sociando Mallet tannins were atypically austere. Nevertheless, the wine boasts huge concentration along with an inky/purple color, a full-bodied, powerful palate, and a long finish. Excellent purity, density, and minerality are present in this cuvee, and it is capable of lasting 30-40 years. This estate is situated on some of the finest terroir of the Haut-Medoc, near Calon-Segur in St.-Estephe. (Tasted two times.)

This uncompromising property has turned out a backward, forbiddingly tannic wine that, even in this very opulent and flamboyant vintage, will need a minimum of 10-15 years of cellaring yet keep for 40 or more years. Opaque black/purple, with notes of crushed rock, white flowers, graphite, blueberry and cassis, the wine is tight and needs to be coaxed from the glass. It is medium to full-bodied, with an excruciatingly tough-textured finish. Everything is here, and the wine is set for a long life, but it is not the least bit charming and certainly won’t be for at least another decade.

Deep ruby. Blackcurrant, licorice, underbrush and smoky oak on the inviting nose, with hints of tobacco and minerals. Dense and chewy in the mouth, with brooding, ripe flavors of blackberry, dark plum and smoky, chocolatey oak given lift by firm acidity. Finishes with subtle length but its assertive tannins will require at least several years of patience once this wine is released. I'm a big fan of this overachieving property, which for my money usually produces one of the top five or six values in all of Bordeaux That said, I wonder if this chunky wine has the concentration to surpass top recent releases. (By the way, the '99 Sociando is delicious right now.)

[55CS/40M/5CF] Fine nose of concentrated ripe red and black fruit, very mineral; lovely balance, an elegant, moderately concentrated middleweight, with fine tannin and no asperity; fresh and with a juicily ripe raspberry and blackcurrant fruit, not that concentrated, but classy and refined, long and even, gently aromatic and complex, with a lovely Médoc gravel element and excellent length. A beautiful flowing, refreshing, complete claret, with plenty to offer; an easy, refined beverage, not massive, but effortless and very good. A very natural feel to this, should be most gratifying. 2017-30