A nice group - old friends and new- met at Sutton Inn last night for a Sociando-Mallet vertical. Restaurant did a nice job- we shared a couple of charcuterie platters, then I had a pea soup with pinenuts and quail egg, onion gnocchi with gruyere, and lamb shank.

2013 Montbourgeau L'Etoile (Jura)
Nutty/sherry nose, interesting but not my thing. C+

Then to the reds

1986 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
A little muted at first, opens up; Sturdy, cassis and a bit of cigarbox. B+

1986 blind wine
I was doing more social engineering than tasting for my guessing. I was thinking JC might have brought Meyney (since Sociando is near St Estephe and similarly priced) but different profile. Green tobacco leaf (petit verdot?) , dark fruits, some earthy notes. JC said Haut Medoc and I got La Lagune B+

1982 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Ive liked this a lot in the past, at least this bottle is on downslope though still enjoyable. Leather, cigar smoke, dirt over slightly tired red fruit. B

1988 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
A bit of barnyard on nose, still plenty of tannin, black plum and cassis with some dirt. B/B+

1988 blind wine - structured, coffee and cassis, slightly tacky tannin. Someone (Greg?) got St. Estephe quickly. I think others liked a lot more than I did. 1988 Cos dEstournel B

1989 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
This was corked, but Ross had brought a backup bottle, and we were glad he did! Redder fruit, mocha, fresh green herbs, long. MY WOTN . A-

1990 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Ripe, round, some tannin but approachable. B+/A-

1995 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
This was clearly flawed., One person thought corked, but I didnt get TCA, just some OTT VA and oxidative notes. Ramon offered to open a "99 backup, but we demurred- too much wine

1996 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Cassis, acids, the most clear green pepper till now but well-integrated, I think I liked more than some B+/A-

2000 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Pretty coiled, cassis, green pepper, I think has potential. B+/B

2004 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Bell pepper out in force here, but also some nice red fruits and ferric notes, some oak. B/B+

I dont drink much young Bordeaux any more, so with that and palate fatigue notes get sketchy. Take with an extra grain (or teaspoon) of salt..

2009 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Ripe, kirschy, wood. Not my thing. B-/C+

2010 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Also quite ripe, but here there seems to be more balance, with good acids and tannins seeming to be less from the oak. B/B+

2011 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Acids, tannin, some cassis, a little hollow. B/B-

2016 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
Cassis, mocha, big but balanced tannins. This could be really good. B+

Fun night with fun people.


Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.