Chateau Sociando Mallet Haut Medoc (Bordeaux), 1985

Sociando Mallet always gets high marks from critics for its quality and ageworthiness. A bottle of this 1985 we had in July of this year was drinking beautifully, but this bottle is a distinct disappointment, not as good as either the 2005 Greysac or the 1985 Poujeaux beside it at the table.

The color has some bricking but is darker than the 1985 Poujeaux. Smells are a bit muted, but no one at the table found any hint of cork taint. Some pleasant red and black fruit flavors but also a bit muted and dry. I suspect this may have cork taint but slight enough that it does not show up in the damp cardboard smells usually associated with TCA.