Redcurrants with sweet tobacco, hazelnut, mint and moist earth, following through to a medium to full body, ultra-fine tannins and a palate that grows at the finish. Needs a minimum of three or four years to come around.

The 2019 Sociando-Mallet has gained composure since I tasted the barrel sample. Now it has engaging red and black fruit, cedar and freshly rolled tobacco scents, focused and quite vigorous. The palate is structured, with firm grip, very well-judged acidity, good substance and a cohesive, black-pepper- and pencil-lead-tinged finish that has real length. Top-drawer Sociando-Mallet.

Notes of minty cassis, cigar wrapper and loamy soil, deftly framed by toasty new oak, introduce the 2019 Sociando-Mallet, a medium to full-bodied, rich and concentrated wine that's incipiently complex and elegantly muscular in profile. The style of the vintage has lent this more youthful polish than is sometimes the case, and it will offer a broad drinking window.

Fresh and focused, showing red currant and damson plum, with a chalky spine and savory and tobacco flecks on the finish. Textbook. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.