- bought on release, stored properly, great looking cork yet feels more like a 25 year old given limited vibrancy
2010 Ch. de Malleret [Haut Medoc] I have been reading David Peppercorn's 2nd edition book on Bordeaux, which is now 30+ years old, but remains a fine resource for all kinds of information on estates. As I read the section on de Malleret, I realized I had one of these in the racks, and that his counsel was it was a wine for 'early drinking'. So I pulled a bottle I'd had since release, and poured a couple of glasses over two nights. And, in case I'd forgotten, the label also advises, it should be consumed by age ten. This 14% abv is a blend of half merlot, and half cab. sauvignon with a healthy dollop of petit verdot thrown in there too. There is a leafy, herbal character to the wine, which I attributed to secondary bouquets but it could also be from the green notes PV can infuse. There was also ancho chile pepper and oregano notes. The color is normal for the age, but taste wise, this medium sedimented bottle feels older than its chronological age given the tertiary notes that might accrue to a multi decade aged Medoc. There was still a coarse tannic spine here, and perhaps that will never round out. Overall, a good wine, but I really should have consumed it in its youth. I'll give it a
B which is kind of generous.
Peppercorn notes that this is a large estate of ~ 1000 acres with only 150 under vine. The main business seems to be raising horses, both racers and hunters, and that one of their progeny won the Oaks in 1968. Vineyards and racing stables seem like a dangerous combination for family wealth preservation...
