France, Bordeaux

A mayne is a large house surrounded by an estate, something which adequately describes Château Grand Mayne, the “grand” bit presumably referring to a time when the estate ran to 250ha with 62ha of vineyard. This was after the Laveau family, who owned Grand Mayne for two and half centuries at least, had purchased Château Soutard to add to their domain. It wasn’t to last, and gradually the estate was divided and sold off and now amounts to 21ha, 1.5km from St Emilion village at the foot of the plateau. Since 1934, Château Grand Mayne has been owned by the Nony family. The vineyards are planted with 76% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, and are around 30 years old. Of the non-classified estates of St Emilion, Château Grand Mayne is generally accounted as one of the best.