The Côtes in Bordeaux now officially married

There have been five “côtes”-appellations in Bordeaux: Premières Côtes de Blaye, Côtes de Francs, Côtes de Castillon, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux and Côte de Bourg. INAO has just approved officially the merger of four of those into a new appellation that is called, simply, Côtes de Bordeaux. The fifth Côte, that has chosen not to be part of the new AOC is Côte de Bourg – they will remain as an independent AOC. The other four will from the 2009 vintage use the new name AOC Côtes de Bordeaux. They can either use only that name or they can add a “first name” to be more specific: Blaye, Francs, Castillon, or Cadillac (this is a new denomination). It will then look like e.g. “Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux”.

Côtes de Bordeaux facts:
- The new appellation Côtes de Bordeaux includes 14,000 hectares, which is about one sixth of Bordeaux
- It produces some 700,000 hl wine
- It is sold as either Côtes de Bordeaux or with one of four communal names added in front: Blaye, Castillon, Francs or Cadillac
- New web site: www.bordeaux-cotes.com