Haut-Médoc · unclassified
Château Sociando-Mallet: available vintages, prices and pairings
The grand vin of Sociando-Mallet, vintage by vintage, with the format, the indicative price and what to expect from it today: ready to drink, or to keep. Tick what interests you, and the quote goes out with your selection.
Vintages on the price list
Filter by budget or by “ready to drink”. Nothing is sent until you click on the quote.
The château
In Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, north of Saint-Estèphe, on a gravel mound overlooking the estuary. Jean Gautreau, a wine merchant, bought it in 1969 and made it one of the most sought-after Haut-Médocs; his family still runs it.
Cabernet sauvignon and merlot, a little cabernet franc and petit verdot. A wine built for ageing, which can wait twenty years or so. The château has chosen not to enter any classification. The appellation's other châteaux are on the Haut-Médoc wines page.
The vineyard occupies the Baleyron mound: Günz gravels over a deep clay-limestone subsoil that regulates the vines' water supply. The property covers 120 hectares, 83 of them under vine, mostly east of the village. The planting is 54% merlot, 42% cabernet sauvignon and 4% cabernet franc, vines 35 years old on average, planted at 8,333 vines per hectare. There is no leaf-stripping and no green harvesting: yield is controlled by winter pruning.
What to serve it with
- A vintage ten years old or more: game (which wine with game), rib of beef (which wine with beef).
- A younger vintage: lamb (which wine with lamb), duck breast (which wine with duck).
- With cheese: well-aged hard cheeses (which wine with cheese).
Which vintage for which occasion
An enthusiast's wine, at the price of a cru bourgeois and the level of many classified growths: for a cellar you are building, or to give to someone who knows their wine (which wine to give). The magnum, when there is one, for a table of ten. For a birthday, the birth year, if the table has it (birth-year vintage).
Is Sociando-Mallet classified?
No. It isn't an 1855 classified growth and it withdrew from the cru bourgeois classification. Its reputation does without a rank.
Why wait for a Sociando-Mallet?
Young, it is firm and a little austere. After eight to ten years, it opens up, and the good vintages last twenty years and more.
When should you drink a Sociando-Mallet?
Allow eight years before opening it and twenty-five years of good form, a little more in a great year, a little less in a weak year or in half-bottles. The table applies this rule to each line; it isn't a tasting note, and a badly stored bottle ages faster.
Are the prices shown the prices on the quote?
They are the indicative prices from the price list, incl. VAT, per bottle of the format, excluding delivery. The quote confirms the price, the availability of each vintage and shipping; the delivery scale gives the lead times. For a vintage missing from the table, the quote request is still open.