So everyone seems to love Sauvignon. And the 2015 and 2016 vintages of the unoaked Sauvignon certainly seem to hit the spot for summer drinking with their vibrant fresh fruit aromas and flavours.

But every year we separate out the best grapes for an altogether different wine; an altogether more serious relative. Sometimes we add a little Sémillon to the mix, sometimes it’s just Sauvignon, and the low yielding grapes are carefully and lovingly fermented and aged for some months in the very best oak barrels we can find.

In the past we were perhaps guilty of a little too much oak, but since 2012 the emphasis has been on the lovely fruit we get from the grapes, which we want to use the oak to wrap in a creamy layer of soft texture.

Recent vintages are amongst our own favorites but despite that, this is the wine we sell the least of, so we have decided to give everyone the opportunity to try these wines at a great price for a few weeks only.

Grand Mayne Réserve Sauvignon/Sémillon 2012

Reminiscent of top white wines from Pessac, with floral aromas and vanilla notes. Flavours of white fruits like pear, and some subtle hints of citrus and honeysuckle. Fresh and well balanced. The perfect wine for those looking for Sauvignon freshness but more complexity. Now available with a 20% discount off your special prices until 31 May 2017. Click here to order.

2012 was a great vintage in the area for dry whites as all early ripening grapes were excellent, with only the Cabernet failing to reach full potential.

Making the wine

Each year we select one parcel of the top quality Sauvignon Blanc grapes to be vinified to make this cuvée of white wine. These grapes are left on the vine to ripen for a few more days after the normal white wine harvest. Then they are carefully picked by hand and  go straight to the winery, where after several hours skin maturation, they are carefully pressed. The juice is left to settle and then run into new oak casks to ferment. After fermentation the wine is stirred from time to time over a period of several months to increase the complexity. It’s bottled in the March following the vintage.

This week it was replacing stakes, and mending the tractor that took up much of Fifi and Manu’s time, but we’ve all also had frost that has damaged our neighbour’s vines, but luckily only a small portion of ours at the bottom of the hill. We’ll have more news of this next week.

Others have not been so lucky with Chablis, the Loire and Champagne already feeling the full effect and a big loss of grapes because of late frosts for the second year running!

The one bedroom cottage at the entrance to Domaine du Grand Mayne is newly renovated and available for rent throughout the year, with a minimum stay of just one night. And it’s yours for free for the night if you fill your car boot with our lovely wine. Buy 120 bottles of any of our wines and your night in the little stone barn is on us.

Click here for more pictures or here for more information and availability.