Château Sociando-Mallet: Vineyards
The vineyard and château sit right on the Gironde, in the commune of St-Seurin-de-Cadourne and not far from Lesparre-Médoc, just a few minutes drive north of St Estèphe. The vineyard is on a gravel croupe that slopes away from the buildings which sit at the top of the estate. Those calling in here should not miss out on the opportunity to visit the first-floor tasting room and balcony, which affords a commanding view over a major part of the vineyard and the Gironde beyond, if only to appreciate that the old maxim – that the best vineyards are planted within sight of the waters of the Gironde – certainly seems to apply to Château Sociando-Mallet.
As I have already explained in my introduction, the vineyard of Château Sociando-Mallet has grown very significantly since it was acquired by Jean Gautreau more than fifty years ago. Having started out with just 8 hectares of vines, the estate has seen a ten-fold increase in vineyard area since then. In many cases these plots of vines were acquired as parcels, less prestigious plots – where the soils are perhaps more sand than gravel – bundled up with the more desirable section. In many cases these lesser parcels were planted with a combination of Merlot at the top of the slope and Cabernet Sauvignon at the bottom, where the Cabernet vines would be protected from frost. The major problem with this arrangement is that the Cabernet Sauvignon planted in this position had difficulty ripening, as they needed the exposure found higher up the slope where the Merlot was situated.
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