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.

El martes, 30 de abril de 2019, 16:43:12 (UTC+2), DaleW escribió:
> 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.

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


Too bad! I got a case of the 2009 for my daughter's cellar. We can only hope.

On 4/30/19 8:43 AM, DaleW wrote:
> 2009 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
> Ripe, kirschy, wood. Not my thing. B-/C+

I with Santiago here bought 3 bottles. Now sounds like a bad purchase. I
normally like Sociando-Mallet and buy regularly. Bad year?

On Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 6:12:39 PM UTC-4, Lawrence Leichtman wrote:
> On 4/30/19 8:43 AM, DaleW wrote:
> > 2009 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
> > Ripe, kirschy, wood. Not my thing. B-/C+
>
> I with Santiago here bought 3 bottles. Now sounds like a bad purchase. I
> normally like Sociando-Mallet and buy regularly. Bad year?

Santiago and Lawrence,
A lot is going to depend on your preferences re ripeness I guess. For me this has stepped over the line, while for other's it didn't
JC's note from same dinner: ripe dark fruited, cedar and herbal nose that follows through on plusher styled palate than anything that preceded it, very good.
As we all know, taste/preference is individual, and I generally think the splits are bigger in the very ripe years. I think the '09 Cos is a WA 99-100, while my friend John Gilman gave it like a 70. My guess is my opinion will be closer to his, but that doesn't mean yours would. So good luck with your SM purchases!

On 5/1/19 10:25 AM, DaleW wrote:
> On Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 6:12:39 PM UTC-4, Lawrence Leichtman wrote:
>> On 4/30/19 8:43 AM, DaleW wrote:
>>> 2009 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
>>> Ripe, kirschy, wood. Not my thing. B-/C+
>>
>> I with Santiago here bought 3 bottles. Now sounds like a bad purchase. I
>> normally like Sociando-Mallet and buy regularly. Bad year?
>
> Santiago and Lawrence,
> A lot is going to depend on your preferences re ripeness I guess. For me this has stepped over the line, while for other's it didn't
> JC's note from same dinner: ripe dark fruited, cedar and herbal nose that follows through on plusher styled palate than anything that preceded it, very good.
> As we all know, taste/preference is individual, and I generally think the splits are bigger in the very ripe years. I think the '09 Cos is a WA 99-100, while my friend John Gilman gave it like a 70. My guess is my opinion will be closer to his, but that doesn't mean yours would. So good luck with your SM purchases!
>

Not a big fan of super ripe years. I tend to prefer leaner style. Maybe
holding for a while will help and may wait until next year to even open
a bottle.

El miércoles, 1 de mayo de 2019, 22:15:01 (UTC+2), Lawrence Leichtman escribió:
> On 5/1/19 10:25 AM, DaleW wrote:
> > On Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 6:12:39 PM UTC-4, Lawrence Leichtman wrote:
> >> On 4/30/19 8:43 AM, DaleW wrote:
> >>> 2009 Ch. Sociando-Mallet
> >>> Ripe, kirschy, wood. Not my thing. B-/C+
> >>
> >> I with Santiago here bought 3 bottles. Now sounds like a bad purchase. I
> >> normally like Sociando-Mallet and buy regularly. Bad year?
> >
> > Santiago and Lawrence,
> > A lot is going to depend on your preferences re ripeness I guess. For me this has stepped over the line, while for other's it didn't
> > JC's note from same dinner: ripe dark fruited, cedar and herbal nose that follows through on plusher styled palate than anything that preceded it, very good.
> > As we all know, taste/preference is individual, and I generally think the splits are bigger in the very ripe years. I think the '09 Cos is a WA 99-100, while my friend John Gilman gave it like a 70. My guess is my opinion will be closer to his, but that doesn't mean yours would. So good luck with your SM purchases!
> >
>
> Not a big fan of super ripe years. I tend to prefer leaner style. Maybe
> holding for a while will help and may wait until next year to even open
> a bottle.


Sociando being a rather classic Chateau one can only hope that they do not suffer that much in hotter years. We'll see. (Rather "She'll see").