Lot presentation

Demoiselle de Sociando Mallet Second Vin 1998

The wine

Demoiselle de Sociando is the second wine from Château Sociando Mallet. The wines is vinified in stainless steel vats, and a quarter of maturation takes place in new barrels for 11 months; the remainder is in stainless steel before 7 months' vatting for homogenisation. Demoiselle de Sociando has a remarkably dark colour, and presents powerful aromas of raspberries and toast. Concentrated and full-bodied in its youth, this wine gains richness and smoothness with age.

About the Producer Château Sociando-Mallet

Château Sociando-Mallet takes its name from the 17th century owner, Monsieur Sociando, with Madame Mallet adding her name when she purchased the property in the 19th century. The château subsequently changed hands several times, before it had the good fortune to be bought by Jean Gautreau in 1969. Since then, with every vintage, Château Sociando-Mallet has provided proof that it deserves a place among the best of the appellation's properties, although it has currently been left on the sidelines of the classification systems: having for a long time been ranked among the elite of the Crus Bourgeois du Médoc, in 2003 the owner refused to participate in the revision of the classification, believing – perhaps rightly – that the wine deserved to be ranked instead as a Cru Classé. An exceptional Graves terroir – as the name of the lieu-dit of origin, Terres Nobles, indicates – stringent harvesting and sorting by hand, long aging in new oak barrels; all lead to expectations of a great wine… and this is confirmed on tasting.