2016 Château Grand Mayne, St Emilion, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
The 2016 Grand-Mayne has a refined, complex bouquet of intense red berry fruit, briar and undergrowth aromas, plus wonderfully integrated oak. The palate is ripe on the entry with plush tannins and perhaps a little more forward than its peers, yet there is plenty of charm on the lightly spiced, tertiary finish. This is Saint-Émilion with pedigree.
Drink 2022 - 2045
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (August 2020)
The 2016 Grand Mayne has turned out beautifully. Fresh, perfumed and nuanced, the 2016 is super-appealing. Sweet red berry, blood orange, mint and flowers add energy to an expressive Saint-Émilion that is texturally rich and also vibrant. I really like the sheer energy of the 2016. This is a wine of real character.
Drink 2022 - 2041
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (January 2019)
Dark ruby. Rich, ripe, flattering nose. Suitably structured so that, although there’s a hint of sweet oak, it’s also reasonably refreshing. Good for right-bank enthusiasts. There is still quite a bit of tannin at the end.
Drink 2022 - 2034
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (June 2022)
Medium to deep garnet-purple-coloured, the 2016 Grand Mayne features fragrant kirsch, redcurrant jelly, and black plum scents with garrigue, mossy bark, and Sichuan pepper touches. Full-bodied, rich and densely laden with vibrant red and black fruits, it has a plush frame and a very long, earth-laced finish.
Drink 2020 - 2034
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (November 2018)
This one has a solid density of fruit and velvety tannins—medium to full body, chewy tannins and a fresh finish.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (April 2017)
Smoky, sweet spice with juicy, ripe red berries on the nose. The liquorice and star anise core is supported by plump, fleshy, vibrant loganberry and raspberry fruit. Fresh, chewy fig on the finish. Youthful and classy.
Drink 2023 - 2042
Georgie Hindle, Vincenzo Arnese, Arthur Coggill, Decanter.com (March 2023)
The 2016 Château Grand Mayne is a beauty and could turn into a real superstar with 3-4 years of bottle age. This deep, ruby-coloured effort gives up lots of currant and cassis fruits and subtle new oak in its violet and mineral-driven aromas and flavours. It's seriously impressive and medium to full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, with fine tannins and impeccable balance. Give it a few years, and it should keep for two decades or more.
Drink 2019 - 2039
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (February 2019)
About this WINE
Chateau Grand Mayne
Château Grand Mayne sits at the heart of the St Emilion appellation on Bordeaux’s Right Bank. The 17-hectare vineyard has remained unchanged for 300 years or so. Brothers Jean-Antoine and Damien Nony are the third generation of their family at the helm here. Their late father, Jean-Pierre, sadly passed away in 2001, aged just 55. The most prized part of the vineyard is a slope of limestone over clay. “My father used to call it his Romanée-Conti,” Jean-Antoine recalls. “It looks like a Burgundian Grand Cru.”
As recently as the 1960s, there was around 40% Cabernet Franc planted here. Over time, it dropped to 10-15% of the plantings. When Jean-Antoine took over in 2012, he initiated a replanting programme, now underway and due to be completed in 2035. The estate has been a Grand Cru Classé since 1955.
St Émilion
St Émilion is one of Bordeaux's largest producing appellations, producing more wine than Listrac, Moulis, St Estèphe, Pauillac, St Julien and Margaux put together. St Emilion has been producing wine for longer than the Médoc but its lack of accessibility to Bordeaux's port and market-restricted exports to mainland Europe meant the region initially did not enjoy the commercial success that funded the great châteaux of the Left Bank.
St Émilion itself is the prettiest of Bordeaux's wine towns, perched on top of the steep limestone slopes upon which many of the region's finest vineyards are situated. However, more than half of the appellation's vineyards lie on the plain between the town and the Dordogne River on sandy, alluvial soils with a sprinkling of gravel.
Further diversity is added by a small, complex gravel bed to the north-east of the region on the border with Pomerol. Atypically for St Émilion, this allows Cabernet Franc and, to a lesser extent, Cabernet Sauvignon to prosper and defines the personality of the great wines such as Ch. Cheval Blanc.
In the early 1990s there was an explosion of experimentation and evolution, leading to the rise of the garagistes, producers of deeply-concentrated wines made in very small quantities and offered at high prices. The appellation is also surrounded by four satellite appellations, Montagne, Lussac, Puisseguin and St. Georges, which enjoy a family similarity but not the complexity of the best wines.
St Émilion was first officially classified in 1954, and is the most meritocratic classification system in Bordeaux, as it is regularly amended. The most recent revision of the classification was in 2012
Cabernet Sauvignon blend
Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.
In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.
In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and Australia.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
The 2016 Grand-Mayne has a refined, complex bouquet of intense red berry fruit, briar and undergrowth aromas, plus wonderfully integrated oak. The palate is ripe on the entry with plush tannins and perhaps a little more forward than its peers, yet there is plenty of charm on the lightly spiced, tertiary finish. This is Saint-Émilion with pedigree.
Drink 2022 - 2045
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (August 2020)
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