Château Mayne-Vieil

From 1500 to 1809, Château Mayne-Vieil belonged to the de Paty family, well known in Guyenne, ennobled by King John the Good at the battle of Poitiers. The Écuyer de Paty, lord of Mayne-Vieil, built the large cellars in the 17th century and in the 18th century replaced the fortified house with an elegant chartreuse, completed in 1860 by Jean-Raymond Fontemoing. The Fontemoings, wine négociants in Libourne from 1732 to 1900, created in Fronsac the new vineyard that would produce the “New French Claret”, that is, the great wines raised and aged as the English négociants of the Chartrons were doing in the Médoc at the same period. For fifty years, the wines of Fronsac, thanks to their technical advance, sold for more than their neighbours of Saint-Émilion.
Since 1918, Mayne-Vieil has belonged to the Sèze family, who rebuilt the vineyard after the Great War and devoted themselves to the production of high-quality red wines.
The vineyard consists of 47 hectares in a single block, of which 32 are in the A.O.C. Fronsac area, on a clay-silt hillside with a moderate slope.
The grape varieties, 90% red Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, are grafted onto low-vigour rootstock, which is indispensable for the production of great wines.
Vinification is traditional for the Bordeaux region, with a three-week maceration and a year and a half of vat ageing. Bottling is done at the château. Only the best vats, after tasting, are blended, bottled and sold under the Château Mayne-Vieil A.O.C. Fronsac label, which represents 165 barrels, or on average 200,000 bottles. A cuvée, the Cuvée Aliénor, a selection of plots of old Merlot, aged in new barrels and many times medalled, is also produced at Mayne-Vieil.
Part of Château Mayne-Vieil, Château Buisson-Redon, enclaved in the Fronsac appellation, produces excellent A.O.C. Bordeaux red, white, rosé and clairet wines. This production is listed in the commune of Galgon.