Sociando Mallet with grilled beefsteak
Linda prepared grilled filets of beef with sautéed spinach and baked potatoes. I pulled from the cellar for one of my favorite food and wine pairings.
There is great value in this second/third tier Cru Bourgeois from Château Sociando-Mallet located in the commune of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne in the Haut-Médoc on the Left Bank of Bordeaux overlooking the Gironde river Estuary.
We drove through the area of the estate, sitting just off the Gironde River, just to the north of the village of St-Estèphe, near highly acclaimed Château Montrose during our visit to the Medoc in 2019.
The vineyards are planted with the designated Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Merlot (25%), Cabernet Franc (25%) and Petit Verdot (5%). The wines are matured in oak barriques (70-90% new) for 12-15 months. They are bottled unfined and unfiltered.
“These are weighty, firm and well-structured clarets that are typically rich in fruit and have excellent ageing potential, said producer Jean Gautreau: "I have a superb terroir which I want to express in the wine. I try to make a classic Médoc for long keeping."
Château Sociando-Mallet Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux 2005
Sociando-Mallet has been managed by Jean Gautreau and his family since 1969. Born in 1927, Jean Gautreau created his own négociant firm in 1957 serving customers in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Jean Gautreau discovered Sociando-Mallet in the village of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne in 1969 when looking for a wine estate to buy on behalf of a Belgian client but acquired it for himself for 250,000 French francs.
There were only 5 hectares of vines at the time. Jean Gautreau expanded the vineyard year after year by buying vines from his neighbours. He renovated the estate’s buildings, built a barrel cellar, and gradually improved the choice of grape varieties, matching the appropriate ones to each vineyard plot.
Today, the property is comprised of 83 hectares producing nearly 450,000 bottles a year of Château Sociando-Mallet and the second wine, Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet. Jean Gautreau sold his négociant business in 2000 to focuse solely on producing wines.
Château Sociando-Mallet dates back to 1633. Owner Guillaume de Brochon was arrested during the French Revolution in 1793 and the estate was impounded and sold at auction to his father-in-law, Jean Lamothe.
In 1831, Marie-Elisabeth Alaret, Lamothe's niece and owner of Sociando, married Achille Mallet, adding his name to the estate, the château was thereafter known as Sociando-Mallet.
The Alaret family sold the property in 1878 to Léon Simon. Between then and the arrival of Jean Gautreau, the château belonged to the wine merchant firm of Delor, Louis Roullet (Mayor of Saint-Seurin), and then Emile Tereygeol, who also owned Pontoise-Cabarrus at that time.
Jean Gautreau passed in 2019, leaving the property to his daughter Sylvie who had been managing since 2015, and has continued following in her father’s footsteps.
This aged vintage Bordeaux is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc.
I often say, the French have been perfecting these blends for five hundred years, while we Americans for fifty years, and are now just beginning to appreciate the wisdom and experience of the French!
At twenty years of age, this is in its ‘Goldilock’s zone’, old enough to be fully integrated to reveal its complexity, to my preference, but still young enough to show the full expression of its fruits, which Linda likes. The label, foil, and most importantly, the fill level and cork were in perfect condition. This is likely at the apex of its drinking profile and may age for another five or ten years before starting to diminish.
The 2005 vintage was considered by some as one of the top ten Bordeaux vintages in history sitting alongside 1961, 1982, 1990 & 2009.
Jeb Dunnuck wrote in 2024, “This killer bottle of wine has another 2-3 decades of overall longevity. You should buy it if you see it and count yourself lucky if you have bottles in the cellar.”
This release was rated 94 points by Jeb Dunnuck and Vinous, 93 points by James Suckling and Wine Advocate.
Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, smooth, polished and balanced black berry and black currant fruits are accented by notes of earth, herbs, tobacco, cedar and subtle floral and a hint of truffle with chewy tannins and a flavorful finish.
RM 92 points.
