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.

The wines have a remarkably dark colour, and present powerful aromas of raspberries and toast. Concentrated and full-bodied in their youth, they become magnificently rich and supple with age, with a capacity to keep for a good twenty years. A duck casserole or kidneys flambéed with cognac would be a marriage made in heaven...