Updated: Mar 23, 2023
Every true wine connoisseur is attracted to Chateau Gloria for that little 'unclassified' and 'mysterious' temperament. And Chateau Gloria's excellent quality, which may have exceeded the more prestigious class growths in St. Julien, attracted some of them even more learned. But, of course, the character of the understated 2011 bottle as an age-worthy claret always shows those classy cassis notes with a secondary bouquet of pencil shavings, herbs and a cigar box on the nose. It may lack the floral dimension one may expect from outstanding wines; on entry, it tastes a bit saline, backward with even more structure than 2013, but its tannins are well-blende wit, which will serve correctly more than a food wine. The palate is well balanced, and the wine will load with Asian spices and black pepper that gain consistent support. It may need 2+ hours for breathing in bott;e.
Owner Henri Martin, a cooper by upbringing, took over the property in 1942 and began purchasing vineyards from classed growth properties such as Gruaud-Larose, Talbot, Lagrange and Léoville-Barton. By the mid-1960s, he had 50 hectares spread across the appellation. In 1982 he purchased Château St-Pierre and thus realized his lifetime ambition of owning a Grand Cru Classé property. Henri Martin died in 1991, and Gloria, operated by his son-in-law Jean-Louis Triaud is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25%Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. It aged in a combination of large oak foudres and small oak barrels (50% new). The vines are ancient.
Tim Atkins, one of my tasting teachers on the MW course, gives 94 for 2011 Gloria. GG also awarded 92, who wrote on the bottle, 'Dark hue tinged with crimson. Extremely young nose revealing racy ageing and roasted coffee accents. On the palate, wonderful stuffing, full, rich wine with generous aromas. The oak is still very upfront, although the fruit is beginning to show.' Other scores include:
95 points Wine Enthusiast
A powerful wine—its concentrated tannins contrast its underlying juicy fruit. This is a flavorful medley of prunes, dark plums and blackberries; the finish is marked with juiciness. (4/2012). Edited.
92 points Wine Spectator
Mouthfilling and gutsy, a fun, rustic style with chewy plum, fig and blackberry backed by a very briary finish. (4/2012). Edited.
91 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This estate continues to go from strength to strength. Another sleeper of the vintage, 2011, is excellent, possibly outstanding. Abundant aromas of cassis, forest floor, tobacco leaf and a vague hint of oak follow its dense ruby/purple colour. Ripe for the vintage with excellent texture, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel and a delicious, savoury, broad appeal, this wine should drink well for at least a decade. (4/2012). Edited.
Deep ruby, tight rim. Floral. Ripe nose- raisin, cherry. The palate leads to tones of dark fruit(currants and cherries), spices, black peppery, and is still cedary. Medium, dry finish. An excellent food wine for the mineral touch. Balance and elegance-it is a bottle that gives quite a different taste profile. The wine benefited from bottle ageing and still got some mileage. Also, only some have tasted wine in Hong Kong.
Halfway between Margaux and Saint Julien, it is slightly apart from the D2. The Chateau is close yet sheltered from the main thoroughfares and profited from this discrete and privileged location to produce authentic and honest Moulis wines.
Scores not bad, for example
From the Poujeaux section of Moulis, Dutruch Grand Poujeaux is still family-owned and -inhabited. This is deliciously fruity and ripe; generous tannins firmly balance the juicy black-currant flavour. A concentrated wine that will undoubtedly age well. Edited.
Updated: Jul 19, 2023
Sociando Mallet uniquely shapes my tasting career: it helps form my wine quality concept. What struck me most about Sociando Mallet is their consistency. . Not only are they excellent in the good years, but they are also very well made in the less-good times. While it's always true that not all tasters like the Socialndo Mallet style, its performance, at least in the eyes of Parker et al., is always far better in structure, harmony, elegance and balance than some of the Crus, regardless of the vintage conditions. Every time I tasted the bottles, I was always in a meditative state.
Based in the Haut-Medoc just north of St Estephe, Sociando Mallet did not exist at the time of the 1855 classification and had no chance to opt to enter the Cru Bourgeois system. Neither a classed growth nor a Cru Bourgeois, Sociando-Mallet is structurally placed as an anomaly. To me, Sociando-Mallet is just too good to be classified. And this query, whether we need classification systems, is always on my mind.
The average age of the vines is 35 years, with 55% being Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc; hence there are always complexities and intensities with the wines. The great vineyard sites, which lie on gravel over a clay-limestone subsoil sloping down to the river, are unusual in that they ripen quicker than their more southerly counterparts and are therefore picked earlier. The Chateau’s wines are always matured in 100% new barrels; hence there is always a spectrum of nose and taste.
This is rare for a non-classed growth, but the fact the wines absorb this amount of new oak so comfortably underlines their structure and quality. With 20 years+ of ageing for these four off-vintaged sets, all vintages are woven with silky fruit/wood tannins with unique wine structures. Yet all vintage shows peculiar characters. All vintages tasted are form roughly from 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc described above. Fruit tones(primary, secondary and tertiary) are overall well balanced.
2002 reflects the fruity character of the vintage. Deep ruby with a medium garnet rim gives a classic Haut Medoc bouquet with a pleasant fruity touch and melted tar and graphite aromas with time. Masculine and earthy, the palate is somewhat grainy, barely drying, and in synthesis with the structure. This 2002 is precisely the kind of good work Sociando Mallet can do in a difficult vintage.
2003 is mega-concentrated. With silky tannins, sappy acidity, and excellent fruit length, the fruit nose is primary mainly, with few signs of evolution. Tannins are sweet. With deep ruby with a medium garnet rim, it noses notes of blackberries, blackcurrants and a pleasant touch of eucalyptus. On the palate, it is fruity, fresh, balanced and persistent finish(tones of cedar, leather, spices).
2012 is fresher. Deep purple colour with a tight pink rim. Sweetish dark fruit, ripe tannins, decent acidity, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel and stunning cassis fruit in the finish put this wine right amid the best-classified crus from the Médoc not classified. Go figure. Soft and easy to drink, this wine will still age beautifully for another five years.
2014. Deep, ruby, tight rim. it shows lots of potential. Intense Blackcurrant tones. Smoky aroma; austere, robust build, dense, of good length, tensioned; the style has remained faithfully Sociando-Mallet, but compared to the primeur pattern, it appears harsher and has lost some of its balance—mineral finish, full-bodied, structured, as intense as the nose. Could taste too intense for some. Steadfast.
