SOCIANDO MALLET 2014

Fresh, with good cut to the plum and black currant fruit, showing extra tobacco and iron notes on the finish. Has a good shot of toast, but enough fruit and minerality to soak that up. Rock-solid.

The 2014 Sociando Mallet has a complex nose, a mixture of red and black fruit, cedar and pencil lead, quite focused, and here, the oak is very nicely integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with sapid black fruit, a bit chewy at first but with good depth. It maintains fine structure on the finish, but it needs a little more complexity and precision to merit a more generous score. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.

Dusty spices with lead pencil, graphite and blackcurrants. Barely any evolution on the nose. Structured, virile and fine-grained, with medium to full body and juicy, nicely fluid center palate. Fine-boned and still four-squared. Typical style of Sociando-Mallet. This is more about bones than flesh. 60% merlot, 37% cabernet sauvignon and 3% cabernet franc. Lovely now, but the tannin and the freshness will allow it to keep well. From a vertical tasting at the winery.

The 2014 Sociando-Mallet put in a great performance in barrel. Now in bottle, the sophistication is evident on the nose with beautifully defined black fruit tinged with cedar and graphite. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, supple tannin, a silver bead of acidity and superb focus towards the finish. The energy here is superb and it tempts you back immediately for another sip. Probably a Sociano-Mallet that will drink young, yet there is the class to suggest it will age supremely well. Drink 2019-2035