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 I?ve 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. B1988 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 d?Estournel B1989 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 didn?t 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 don?t 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.