Chateau Sociando-Mallet Haut Medoc, 1985

Valentine's Day: filet mignon with roasted vegetables and potatoes. Seemed like a good time to bring up a mature red Bordeaux from the cellar. And it was a good choice.

;Deep, bright red. A small tasting pour shows some bricking; a full glass looks deep and dark. Exciting scents and flavors. Ripe red cherries, plums and truffles. Lively acidity and a strong fruit presence. Considerably more depth and complexity than to be expected from a Haut Medoc. The estate claims to have "one of the finest gravelly terroirs in the Medoc." It is Gunz gravel "over a deep layer of clay-limestone soil. This terroir perfectly regulates water supply and enables Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen extremely well and Merlot to acquire depth and complexity" 

Back in 1987, I paid $12 a bottle for this wine at Brown Derby in Springfield, Mo.; the going price today is $124.  The 2019 vintage today sells for about $35; if I were a younger man, I would be buying some.