Château Grand Mayne

The estate traces its history to a vineyard overlooked by a manor built at the end of the 16th century. The Laveau family acquired Mayne in 1685 and held it for some two centuries; Château Grand Mayne credits Jean Laveau with raising the vineyard to the highest level, citing the wine prices and praise in the Féret Bordeaux wine directory of 1846, and counts Mayne, with Figeac and Soutard, among the most important estates in Saint-Émilion at that time. With no direct heirs, the Laveau holdings were dispersed among family heirs, and various owners followed. In 1934 Jean Nony, a wine merchant established in the Chartrons trading district of Bordeaux, bought the property, by then known as Grand Mayne, from Noël Berbudeau. The name comes from mayne, Old French for a manor. Jean Nony (d. 1975) was followed in 1975 by his son Jean-Pierre and Jean-Pierre's wife Marie-Françoise, who carried out extensive renovation work and invested in new winemaking technology. After Jean-Pierre Nony (d. 2001), Marie-Françoise Nony maintained the course until 2020, when her two sons followed in their father's footsteps.

• End of the 16th century: the manor overlooking the vineyard is built.
• 1685: the Laveau family acquires Mayne and holds it for some two centuries.
• 1934: Jean Nony buys the property from Noël Berbudeau.
• 1975: Jean-Pierre and Marie-Françoise Nony take over the property.
• 2001 to 2020: Marie-Françoise Nony maintains the course.
• 2020: her sons Jean-Antoine and Damien Nony follow.

Jean-Antoine Nony and his brother Damien Nony represent the third generation of the family at Château Grand Mayne. Jean-Antoine Nony has worked as estate manager since 2011. The estate's team lists Jean-François Plumas as estate director, Pierre-Yves Petit as technical manager and Philippe Oger as cellar manager, and some members of the team have worked at Grand Mayne for nearly forty years.

• Jean-Antoine and Damien Nony: third generation; Jean-Antoine estate manager since 2011.
• Jean-François Plumas: estate director.
• Pierre-Yves Petit: technical manager.
• Philippe Oger: cellar manager.

Château Grand Mayne is a homogeneous group of stone buildings. The château was built in the 16th and 17th centuries and overlooks the vineyard in which it sits, and it is listed as a historical monument. The outbuildings adjoining it date from the 17th century and were built with stone from regional limestone quarries; a long building facing due west was designed to protect the château from intruders and westerly ocean winds, broken at its centre by a paved semicircular arch through which horse-drawn carriages entered. A monumental wine cellar and further outbuildings were added over the years, and the complex is enclosed by long rubble stone walls.

• Château built in the 16th and 17th centuries; listed as a historical monument.
• 17th-century outbuildings of regional limestone, with a west-facing range and a semicircular carriage arch.
• A monumental wine cellar added over the years.

Château Grand Mayne has 17 hectares of vines in a single block, set in a natural amphitheatre on the hillside and at the foot of Saint-Émilion. The vines grow at 55 meters above sea level, facing south and west, on a clay-limestone hillside and, at its foot, on clay soil to the south and clayey sand soil to the west. The château lies at the geographic centre of the commune of Saint-Émilion, 1.5 km west of the village at the foot of a limestone plateau. For the 2020 and 2022 vintages, 15 of the 17 hectares were in production; the average vine age was 37 years for 2020 and 30 years for 2022. The typical blend of the grand vin is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc.

• 17 hectares in a single block; 15 hectares in production for the 2020 and 2022 vintages.
• 55 meters above sea level, facing south and west.
• Clay-limestone hillside; clay soil to the south and clayey sand soil to the west at its foot.
• 1.5 km west of the village of Saint-Émilion, at the foot of a limestone plateau.
• Average vine age 37 years (2020) and 30 years (2022).

Each parcel is managed as a wine-growing unit in its own right: the vines on the slopes are grassed to prevent erosion, while those on clay and clayey-sand soils are ploughed. Vineyard work includes Bordelaise pruning, disbudding and suckering, green harvesting, double manual leaf-thinning and parcel-by-parcel management. The grapes are picked by hand into small containers, sorted twice, in the vineyard and in the vathouse, and destemmed. Each parcel is vinified separately in temperature-controlled wooden and stainless-steel vats, and the wine is aged in French oak barrels for 15 to 20 months before the final blend is selected. The 2020 and 2022 vintages each spent 18 months in barrels: 50% new and 50% one-year-old barrels for 2020, and 60% new and 40% one- and two-year-old barrels for 2022. For the 2020 vintage, the harvest was no longer sulphited, with bio-protection added instead, and all pumping over was done by hand. The estate holds ISO 14001 environmental management certification.

• Slopes grassed against erosion; clay and clayey-sand parcels ploughed.
• Hand harvest into small containers; double sorting; destemming.
• Parcel-by-parcel vinification in temperature-controlled wooden and stainless-steel vats.
• 15 to 20 months in French oak barrels; 18 months for the 2020 and 2022 vintages.
• 2020: no sulphiting of the harvest (bio-protection instead); all pumping over by hand.
• ISO 14001 environmental management certification.

Château Grand Mayne is a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé and is listed among the Grands Crus Classés in the 2022 Saint-Émilion classification. Its wines carry the Saint-Émilion Grand Cru appellation.

• 2022 classification: Grand Cru Classé.
• Appellation: Saint-Émilion Grand Cru.

The grand vin, Château Grand Mayne, is a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru with a typical blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The 2020 vintage was 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, picked from September 10 to October 1, the earliest harvest (with 2003) since the family's acquisition in 1934, with a yield of 41 hl/ha and 53,000 bottles made. The 2022 vintage was also 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, with the Merlot picked from September 8 to 15 and the Cabernets from September 16 to 20, a yield of 41 hl/ha and 60,000 bottles. The second wine, Filia de Grand Mayne, was named Les Plantes du Mayne from 1986 to 2007; Filia is Latin for daughter. It comes from vines at the foot of the hillside on southern and western clayey sand soils and from young vines, has a typical blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc and is aged for 14 months in French oak barrels. The 2020 Filia was 100% Merlot, made half from young vines under 15 years old and half from parcels not retained for the grand vin, with 11,000 bottles produced.

• Château Grand Mayne: Saint-Émilion Grand Cru; typical blend 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc.
• 2020: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc; 41 hl/ha; 53,000 bottles.
• 2022: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc; 41 hl/ha; 60,000 bottles.
• Filia de Grand Mayne (second wine; Les Plantes du Mayne from 1986 to 2007): typical blend 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc; 14 months in barrels.
• Filia de Grand Mayne 2020: 100% Merlot; 11,000 bottles.

Jean-Antoine and Damien Nony set out the estate's philosophy in their own words: 'A wine must reflect its terroir, its origins.' Château Grand Mayne presents its wines as a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc that combines the power of fruit, elegant tension and finesse, and adds that its wines, known for their ageing potential, are in recent vintages more open and accessible in their early years.

Château Grand Mayne offers tours of the vineyard and cellar. The Trilogy tour lasts around an hour and includes a tasting of two vintages of Château Grand Mayne and one of Filia de Grand Mayne, at 30€ per person as a group tour or 40€ per person as a private tour, for up to 12 people. The Secrets tour lasts around an hour and a half and ends with a tasting of four vintages of Château Grand Mayne, one of them served blind, as a private tour at 80€ per person. The estate is open Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 17:00, all year, and sells wine at the property.

• The Trilogy: around 1 hour; two vintages of Château Grand Mayne and one of Filia; 30€ (group) or 40€ (private) per person.
• The Secrets: around 1 hour 30 minutes; four vintages of Château Grand Mayne, one served blind; 80€ per person.
• Open Monday to Friday, 9:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:00.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://grand-mayne.com/en/legacy/, https://grand-mayne.com/en/spirit/, https://grand-mayne.com/en/wines/chateau-grand-mayne/, https://grand-mayne.com/en/wines/filia-de-grand-mayne/, https://grand-mayne.com/en/visits/, and the estate's technical sheets for Château Grand Mayne 2022 (https://grand-mayne.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Chateau-Grand-Mayne-2022.pdf), Château Grand Mayne 2020 (https://grand-mayne.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Chateau-Grand-Mayne-2020.pdf) and Filia de Grand Mayne 2020 (https://grand-mayne.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Filia-de-Grand-Mayne-2020.pdf). Official body: Conseil des Vins de Saint-Émilion, https://vins-saint-emilion.com/chateau/chateau-grand-mayne/ and https://vins-saint-emilion.com/bienvenue-dans-le-vignoble/classement-2022-crus-saint-emilion/. Last verified 2026-10-20. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.