Nose
Their complex bouquet is usually dominated by black fruit aromas with a touch of minerality and well-integrated, elegant oak. A beautiful graphite and black fruit nose.
Palate
Often somewhat "virile" when young, the wines gain in balance and complexity with age. They are fresh, straightforward, and have a wonderful length. This is undoubtedly a great Sociando this year, with precise yet juicy graphite and black fruits on the palate.
Growing Conditions
Primarily located east of the village of Saint-Seurin, the property stretches over a total of 120 hectares, of which 83 are under vine. The vines grow on the superb Baleyron gravelly hillock around the house and winery buildings. Sun exposure is optimum and breezes off the estuary keep the vines well aired and healthy. The huge mass of water in the estuary and nearby ocean accounts for a temperate microclimate without wild swings in temperature.
Grape varieties consist of 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 54% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc. The vines are an average 35 years old.
The average vine density is 8,333 vines per hectare. This corresponds to 1 metre between vine rows and a distance of 1.2 metres between plants within a row. This high density increases the surface of the leaf canopy and creates a competition between vines, conducive to the production of grapes with a high content of tannin, sugar, colour and aromas.
Winemaking
Sociando Mallet is vinified traditionally. Only native yeast and bacteria naturally present on the grapes and at the estate are used. Sociando-Mallet has stainless steel and concrete vats, both of which are temperature-controlled. Once the wine is put into vat, the crushed grapes start to ferment thanks to the presence of yeast. The skins and pips float to the surface and form a cap above the must (fermenting grape juice). The vats are pumped over daily to extract colouring matter and aromas from this cap. Pumping over consists in spraying the cap with must taken from the bottom of the vat.
The wine stays on the skins for an average of 25-30 days depending on the vat and the vintage.
Then comes the running off when the free run wine is separated from the pomace (skins and pips). The press wine is produced by putting the pomace through a winepress. These wines are then put into vat for malolactic fermentation. This secondary fermentation occurs spontaneously due to friendly bacteria naturally present in the wine, which transform malic acid into lactic acid. This therefore makes the wine smoother and more balanced.
Aging
After this malolactic fermentation, lots chosen to become Sociando-Mallet are put into 100% new French oak barrels and aged for approximately 12 months.
Appearance
A deep, dark inky black in colour.