Château Sociando-Mallet

Sociando-Mallet commands a solid reputation in today’s wine market. It sits, out of choice, outside of Bordeaux’s classification system, choosing instead to call itself simply, Haut-Médoc. Its owner - Jean Gautreau, a young négociant - opted not to include it in the Médoc classifications, but this has done nothing to deter its loyal following. When he purchased the estate in 1969 it was in a sad state but he recognised the quality of its land and spent the next half century increasing the size of its holdings from 8 hectares to 110 hectares, 80 of which are now planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, The gravel soils are reminiscent of those found at Pichon-Lalande or Léoville-Las-Cases and Sociando-Mallet (which takes its names from two families of its long past) is capable of creating equally high quality reds. The estate makes two wines, the Grand Vin and a second wine, La Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet.