Why it matters
The producer
Bernard Lartigue did not inherit a finished château. He acquired and rebuilt Château Mayne Lalande from 1975, then released its first vintage in 1982. Successive land purchases brought the vineyard to 22 hectares, while his family’s presence in Listrac and Moulis stretched back more than six generations. The estate therefore carries both a local family history and the mark of one person’s expansion.
Lartigue was self-taught and developed the property through his own creativity. His working method was direct: he tasted grapes from each parcel to decide when to harvest. Alice-Jeanne succeeds him today, carrying forward an estate whose wines are shaped by parcel decisions, a mixed Médoc planting and barrel ageing.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Listrac-Médoc is both the home appellation and the name that frames the bottle. The estate sits in Bordeaux’s Médoc, where the label places the wine inside a defined appellation instead of presenting it as an unspecified regional red. Its 18 hectares under vine also give the name a physical scale, with enough planting to include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in the estate’s vineyard plan.
The equal 45 percent shares of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon make the range less dependent on a single variety. Merlot supplies one half of the vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon the other, while the two five percent plantings add smaller supporting parcels to the cellar’s choices.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The vineyard is planted with 45 percent Merlot, 45 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 5 percent Cabernet Franc and 5 percent Petit Verdot. That mix places the two main Bordeaux varieties on equal footing, while the smaller plantings remain part of the estate’s available palette. Lartigue’s habit of tasting grapes from each parcel brought the harvest decision close to the fruit itself, with ripeness judged in the vineyard before the cellar received it.
The wines receive 12 to 18 months in oak barrels. In the documented 2015, new oak sits alongside red berries, cherry, plum and herbal notes, while fresh acidity and tannic bite keep the palate from feeling soft. Biodynamic conversion began in 2018, marking a change in vineyard management without changing the estate’s established Bordeaux grape framework.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range begins with the estate’s red Bordeaux planting, led in equal measure by Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and supported by Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Those percentages describe the vineyard, not the exact blend of the 2015 vintage.
Château Mayne Lalande 2015 is a youthful red with medium to deep ruby colour. Its nose combines new oak with discreet fruit, then opens into red berries, cherry, plum and herbal notes. On the palate it is medium weight, with red currant, fresh acidity and a tannic bite. The long, tight finish places the vintage in a firm, compact register while the fruit remains identifiable.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Château Mayne Lalande 2015 is the first bottle to open because its vineyard context and taste profile are both documented. It is a Listrac-Médoc red from an estate planted equally to Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in smaller proportions. In the glass, it brings ruby colour, cherry, plum, red currant, fresh acidity, tannic bite and a long, tight finish, with new oak folded through the nose.