March 11, 2024 - This wine starts off soft after initial Taste. Ten seconds later it hits second gear an it makes it to fourth gear. What a beautiful showing. Tannins are non existent almost an fruit is super sexy as the time passes. The taste lingers for over a minute. It literally builds in your mouth. Starts off as if it was dying from all the bottle age an it just wakes up an keeps coming. I gave the bottle a few hours of air in the bottle before tasting. This wine was superb.
March 9, 2024 - Youthful dark saturated ruby. Beautiful aromas of small black fruits, perfumed cedar, tobacco, hint of lifted incense and earth. Palate shows mix of sweet and earthy cassis, black cherries, tobacco, medium acidity, fine tannins and a very perfumed (cedar + incense) finish. This was drinking great!
December 7, 2023 - Commanderie Event: Sociando Mallet (Minikahda Club, Mpls): Very dark red/purple color. Brief double decant. Drank a glass over 2 hours. Saddle leather, funk, menthol, cassis, black cherry, dried tobacco, and a slight twiggy note on the the nose. The tobacco really builds and blends with pencil somewhat and gradually it is the tobacco that takes over. The palate shows the same dried tobacco notes, then pencil, and saddle leather, layered and concentrated, fairly rich with nice dark fruits. Not sure I'd call this youthful, but this still has more life and was so much better than a bottle over 5 years ago. 92+ to 93pts.
November 23, 2023 - Part of a 2020-1995 Verticale. Star of the evening. Expressive and complex, perfectly balancing mature red berries, cedar, plum, sweet tobacco, chocolate and sweet spices with roast aromas, eucalyptus, liquorice and tea aromas. Build for another decade, but perfectly ready to drink.
October 23, 2023 - 2nd of 12, opened an hour, perfect cork and level, less dumb than bottle noted in detail in June, as yet compact and glossy for Sociando if without usual feral and earth notes, good underlying elements as usual with these wines, much upside, 20+ years. For now VGI (17).
September 22, 2023 - Quite dark for a 23 year old wine showing only slight maturity on the rim. I found that there was a hint of green pepper, tobacco and dark fruit. Very dry, reasonably long finish and more old school bordeaux with still some hardness to it. Better with food.
September 22, 2023 - Continues to vindicate the expense, etc. of cellar-keeping. Three cases acquired upon release and resting at 55F since - there has been admirable consistency through idk say 24sh bottles with nary a dud - this one too shines well above its lumen rating. Healthy deep ruby black at core - earthiness still reigns as it has from outset - tart plummy fruit underscores a rich core of a concentrated tea - or is it a pour over coffee with chicory - of organic soil and charcoal dust. This wine is not singular yet is fully encamped in the number of wines with the depth and verve to reward its cellaring and contemplative drinking. Bravo.
September 3, 2023 - Well, this is my last one of these. It was excellent!!
Straight out of the gate…..bacon. Just on the attack…. Then it gave way to pencil lead and cedar shavings. This is a great QPR wine. Wish I had a couple more cases of these.
Didn't expect bacon……but who doesn’t love bacon…. I just went with the flow and enjoyed every minute of it.
Great wine!!!
July 10, 2023 - Three years since last tasted. Still deep maroon. Truffle, lead pencil, earth, on nose and palate. Beautiful balance and elegant. A little less full bodied than before. A thirty year wine, probably.
July 1, 2023 - Tertiary flavors, nice balance, tannins have mellowed. Drinking very well right now.