Château Mayne-Vieil

The property can be traced to the sixteenth century through three families. The de Patys, esquires and lords of Mayne-Vieil, built the great cellars in the seventeenth century. The Fontemoings later planted a vineyard with which Fronsac meant to rival Saint-Émilion. And the Sèzes, owners for the past hundred years, restored and enlarged the estate after the First World War.

The vineyard is forty-seven hectares in a single block, thirty-two of them within the Fronsac appellation. It is planted with 70% merlot and 30% cabernet franc.

That single-block detail is not a minor one. In Bordeaux a property is normally one continuous block, whereas in Burgundy or Alsace the same surface would be cut into dozens of parcels scattered across several villages. They are two different ways of having inherited the land.

The ageing is also out of the ordinary: 85% of the wine passes through concrete vats and only 15% through barrel, for a minimum of three years. Concrete adds no oak aroma, so giving most of the cellar over to it in a region identified with the barrel is a decision about style.