On the sandy Medoc plains around the village of Pauillac, down a dirt track road there are two small parcels of 60-year-old Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted by Sophie Martin’s father and grandfather. They sold the grapes to local cooperatives until 2010, when neighbouring growers started selling their land to Lynch-Bages and Sophie decided to build a barn in her garden and buy winemaking equipment.

Her 0.62 hectares of Pauillac vines, in the Bages lieut-dit, produce around 3 - 4,000 bottles each vintage, making her the smallest Pauillac producer by a short mile. The Pauillac is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, making it especially elegant and fragrant in style, whilst maintaining its rustic gravelly structure.

Only a 5 minute drive away, Sophie also has 4.5 Ha in Saint Laurent Médoc, where she has 40-year-old vines planted in limestone-clay soils and makes 6,000 bottles of Haut Médoc, which she calls La Petite Julia. The wine offers ripe fruit, generous texture, an elegant finish and comes in at a very modest price-point.