Vibrant colour, with attractive reflective quality, plenty of vivid fruits, spiced liqourice root and violet flowers on the opening, alongside dried herbs, bitter orange, cassis and loganberry. Mouthwatering on the finish, this is up there with one of the great vintages of the vertical - so effortless that it can be easy to miss how good it it. 45hl/h yield, 90ha in production, 100% new oak for ageing for 12 month, then 6 months in vat, 18 months in total. Michel-Bernard Couasnon consultant.

Another awesome vintage from this château, the 2005 Château Sociando-Mallet reveals a healthy ruby hue as well as youthful aromatics of ripe blackcurrants, cedary herbs, green tobacco, and subtle floral notes. It’s beautifully textured, medium to full-bodied, and has remarkable purity and finesse paired with impressive density and depth. It still has some tannins, and this killer bottle of wine has another 2-3 decades of overall longevity. You should buy it if you see it and count yourself lucky if you have bottles in the cellar. The blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc.

Tasted single blind at Southwold. This has a very fresh, vibrant nose with good definition: blackberry, tar, scorched earth and a touch of leather. Has a certain lightness of touch on the bouquet. The palate is medium-bodied with fine earthy tannins, backward, nice focus, a slight bitterness and greenness but it only adds freshness and poise. Backward and surly on the finish but good breeding. Superb. Drink 2012-2030.

93+ It’s hard not to admire the brilliant Jean Gautreau, who has run this great terroir and estate (just to the north of St-Estèphe’s Château Montrose) with meticulous perfection for decades. The 2005 is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc. Offering beautifully sweet crème de cassis and blueberries, this is concentrated essence of blue and black fruits, with some underlying minerality, a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and stunning texture, length and purity. This is superb Sociando Mallet, with surprisingly sweet tannin, which is even more remarkable in this vintage of high and occasionally hard tannins. Give it another 4-5 years of cellaring, and drink it over the following 30 years. - Robert M. Parker, Jr.