Château Sociando-Mallet

"The grand cru classé estate of the heart"

When the wine estates of the Médoc were classified in 1855, Sociando-Mallet was not yet included. It only became known when Jean Gautreau discovered it in 1969 and realised its full potential.

It was love at first sight, even if Jean Gautreau could only imagine the possibilities in his mind when he discovered the dilapidated estate in Saint-Seurin-de-Cardourne, founded by Basque noblemen in 1633. But he had a vision and realised it. He invested everything he had, went to the bank, obtained a loan and bought the estate at a time of one of the worst crises in Bordeaux. Gautreau, a former tennis player who once made it to the semi-finals of the Roland Garros junior tennis tournament in Paris and earned his living as a property agent, originally came from a family of winegrowers in Lesparre-Médoc and wanted to get back to his roots. Together with Gérard Cler, he produced wines from the very beginning that quickly became famous far beyond Bordeaux. He started out with 5 hectares. When he died in 2019, fifty years after acquiring the estate at the age of 92, there were 83 hectares of the best terroir.

Since 2015, Sociando-Mallet has been run by Jean's daughter Sylvie Gautreau together with François Hugueniot and cellar master Arnaud Durand. The 83 hectares are planted with vines that are on average 35 years old in a distribution of 55% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc and are located on terrace 4 of the Haut-Médoc in the extension of Pauillac and Saint-Julien. The wines are reminiscent of the neighbouring appellations, even if the proportion of Merlot is significantly higher. However, Sociando-Mallet is always muscular, deep and dark, offers fruit and flavour at the same time and can mature excellently. As far as the price-pleasure ratio is concerned, Sociando-Mallet is still very much in the lead.