Grand Mayne to showcase medal-winning wines at ProWein

British-owned French winery Domaine du Grand Mayne will be pouring its medal-winning wines at ProWein next week.

Domaine du Grand Mayne is a 34-hectare property with nearly 700 shareholders

“We’ll be showing the gold medal winning Reserve white, and silver medal winning Sauvignon (both) from The Drinks Business Sauvignon Masters, along with reds from the excellent 2015 vintage,” said Domaine du Grand Mayne winemaker Mathieu Crosnier.

Continuing he said that these would “include the small production Fusion, which is a wine made from the best grapes I have in the vineyard each year and in 2015 was Cabernet with a touch of Chenin.”

The Domaine is also launching a second round of crowd funding via Seedrs in May this year.

The 34 hectare property already has nearly 700 shareholders, who buy their wines at discounted prices, and who can also rent the restored six-bedroom house at the vineyard at special owners’ rates. The new crowdfunding campaign is aiming to raise £100,000 to fund further investment in the winery.

The wines, made by winemaker Mathieu Crosnier with the guidance of South African winemaker Martin Meinert, have enjoyed sales increase of 30% in 2017.

Domaine du Grand Mayne produces around 200,000 bottles annually of five wines: Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé, Merlot Cabernet, Reserve Sauvignon Sémillon, and Réserve Merlot Cabernet, and in selected years some special limited edition wines are produced

Shareholders can buy their wine in a variety of ways: delivered direct in the UK, collected from Calais, or even greater reductions for wines purchased directly from the winery shop.

Philip Addis comments: “We have a very loyal band of customers who have a vested interest in helping the winery continue to grow by continuing to buy our wines, and we want to open this opportunity up to more people. –It’s an easy way for wine lovers to live the dream of owning part of a winery – for minimal financial input!”

Investment will start at just £10 which will give shareholders 15% discount off the wines and bookings at the house, while a £500 investment qualifies for full shareholder benefits giving a discount of 25%.

Originally the brainchild of Andrew Gordon who bought a derelict farmhouse and abandoned fields in 1985 and created Domaine du Grand Mayne, the winery was then sold to new owners in 2008. The current owners bought the winery in 2013 and a small and highly experienced advisory group was put together to help review the business and lead the first crowdfunding campaign. This includes original owner Andrew Gordon, former Great Western Wines owner Philip Addis and finance director Tim Henderson-Ross, winemaking consultant Martin Meinert, and entrepreneur Graham Hazell.

The crowdfunding campaign will go live on Seedrs at the start of May 2018.