New Bordeaux appellation gets go-ahead

After years of false starts, the new Côtes de Bordeaux appellation will go ahead from the 2008 vintage.

The new AOC has been signed into existence by INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine). The final step is Ministry of Agriculture approval.

Wine labels with the new appellation will be on the shelves from Spring 2009, with the words Cotes de Bordeaux Blaye, Côtes de Bordeaux Castillon, Côtes de Bordeaux Francs, and Côtes de Bordeaux Cadillac (formerly Premieres Côtes).

The Côtes cover 1,600 producers, 120m bottles – which is 10% of Bordeaux’s production – and €360m turnover, of which 14% is exported.

The enlarged but simpler appellation should allow wine merchants to make big enough brands to interest supermarkets and other bulk buyers in overseas markets, and therefore increase the visibility of these regions.

Françoise and Philippe Lannoye, of Chateau Moulin de Clotte in Côtes de Bordeaux: Castillon, welcomed the news.

They told decanter.com, ‘The new appellation will bring greater clarity for the consumer, and the buyer.

‘It means people can place us geographically. This is just as important in France, where people often think Castillon is in Roussillon, as abroad, where people really only know Saint Emilion and the Medoc.

‘I hope that this will be a good example for other areas of Bordeaux.’

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux