Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. The recording is the reference.
The hills around the citadel of
The place
The rules
The names
No classification. Until the decree of October 29, 2009 the reds of
- Colors
- Red and dry white
- Communes
- 40, around the citadel of
Blaye - Vineyard
- 6,000 hectares, 450 properties and 3 cooperatives; some 280,000 hectoliters, 90% red
- Grapes
- Red: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec; white: Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris, Sémillon, Muscadelle
- Density
- 4,500 vines a hectare at least;
Blaye 6,000 - Yield
- Red 52 hectoliters, ceiling 65; white 62, ceiling 72;
Blaye 48 - Alcohol
- Red 11.5%, white 10.5% natural at least;
Blaye 12% - Release
- Reds from March 31 of the year after the harvest
- Classified
- No classification
- AOC since
Côtes de Bordeaux decree of October 29, 2009; cahier of June 4, 2026
Sources: FGVB, cahier des charges
The stack
The same land in
It shares named communes with
The appellations of Bordeaux are stacked, not laid side by side. The map draws the whole stack. Open the map
The pyramid of names shows what each step promises: vines a hectare, bottles, ripeness, day of sale, grapes. Climb from here
Terroir
Walk the vines at Berson and you walk on oysters. Large fossil oysters, often well preserved, lie strewn over the soil of the vineyards, and the marl that holds them takes its name from the village. Some plots are named for them.
Most of the soil is sands and clays of old rivers and lakes (molasse): 57.8% of the delimited area. It rolls in long, easy curves, the Blayais "of soft hills" in the words of the 1977 map. Near Plassac, as the 1977 map reads it, lakes by the coast rose and fell and left a limestone of their own, pinkish beige and very hard, where the brown soil sometimes thins to a skin over the rock.
Along the estuary the land ends in a modest ledge, with reclaimed riverside marsh (palus) at its foot. At
- River and estuary deposits of today0.5%
- Ice age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebbles0.8%
- Landes sand and the oldest river deposits2.9%
- Starfish limestone and marine marls5.3%
- Lake limestones and clays12.8%
- Molasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes57.8%
- Older sea limestones and marls19.9%
Shares of the delimited area, measured on BRGM’s geological map, in families by the age and rock its legend prints, youngest first.
Half its delimited soil lies above 39 m, and 9 tenths lies between 12 and 75 m. 4.6% of it is steeper than 10%.
Measured section
The line runs 26.0 km, from 21 m to 39 m. Inside the delimited area it lies between 24 and 96 m.
Colors: Slope wash and coverRiver and estuary deposits of todayIce age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebblesLandes sand and the oldest river depositsStarfish limestone and marine marlsLake limestones and claysMolasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakesOlder sea limestones and marls
Tap the marker on the section, or open the borehole below: a core slides out, layer by layer.
1Drill here: Saint-Girons-d’Aiguevives, borehole 779-3-3, 355 m from the line
| Depth | As printed | In English | Age (ICS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 to 8.0 m | inconnu | not identified | not given |
| 8.0 to 33.4 m | Sannoisien et Éocène supérieur | Sannoisian and upper Eocene | Sannoisian is an old French name for the base of the Oligocene, which begins 33.9 million years ago; the upper Eocene lies below it |
| 33.4 to 63.5 m | Éocène supérieur | upper Eocene | late Eocene; no stage is named |
| 63.5 to 75.2 m | Calcaire grossier de | Lutetian, as the |
Log printed in BRGM notice 0779, p. 42, under the heading “Saint-Girons-de-
The units, as BRGM prints them
| Code | Name and age, as printed | Share |
|---|---|---|
| River and estuary deposits of today | 0.5% | |
| and 3 more units under 1% each, 0.5% in all | ||
| Ice age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebbles | 0.8% | |
| and 2 more units under 1% each, 0.8% in all | ||
| Landes sand and the oldest river deposits | 2.9% | |
| Ft(Bn) | Formation de Belin, Tiglien - "Biber-Donau" | 2.6% |
| and 2 more units under 1% each, 0.2% in all | ||
| Starfish limestone and marine marls | 5.3% | |
| g1-As | Calcaire à Astéries, Rupélien marin | 5.3% |
| Lake limestones and clays | 12.8% | |
| e7a-P | Groupe de Plassac - Calcaire de Plassac, Priabonien inf. continental interstratifié dans le groupe de Plassac | 12.4% |
| and 2 more units under 1% each, 0.4% in all | ||
| Molasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes | 57.8% | |
| e7-g1 | Molasses du Fronsadais indifférenciées, Priabonien sup. à Rupélien basal continental | 21.5% |
| e7a-Mp | Groupe de Plassac - Molasse de Plassac, Priabonien inf. continental interstratifié dans le groupe de Plassac | 4.0% |
| e6-7 | Argiles à Paléotherium, Bartonien sup. à Priabonien inf. continental | 5.7% |
| e5-6 | Formation de Guizengard sup., Lutétien sup. à Bartonien sup. continental | 16.5% |
| e4b(1) | Formation de Guizengard inf., Yprésien sup. continental | 8.0% |
| and 4 more units under 1% each, 2.0% in all | ||
| Older sea limestones and marls | 19.9% | |
| e7b-Ms | Groupe de Plassac - Marnes à sismondia occitana et ostrea bernonensis (supérieures), Priabonien moy. marin | 4.4% |
| e7a-Ce | Groupe de Plassac - Calcaires de St Estephe, Priabonien inf. marin | 3.3% |
| e6b-Ac | Groupe de Plassac - Argiles à ostrea cucullaris, Bartonien sup. marin | 5.0% |
| e5-6(Bly3) | Formation du calcaire de | 6.0% |
| and 5 more units under 1% each, 1.2% in all | ||
Informative figures, computed from INAO’s digitized parcel delimitation of October 12, 2026 and BRGM’s harmonized geological map (BD Charm-50); heights from IGN’s RGE ALTI 5 m. The plans held at the town hall are the legal reference. The delimited area is always somewhat larger than what is planted.
Sources: BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille
See it on the Map · Compare it with another appellation · All about Terroir
Châteaux on this site
Château Bel-Air La Royère Château Frédignac Château Gigault Château Haut Bertinerie Château les Jonqueyres Château Monconseil-Gazin Château Mondésir-Gazin Château Roland La Garde Château Segonzac
Also in this appellation, with no page here yet: Château Bourdieu.
News from Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux
4
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Looking back at the first Odyssey of the Two Banks
Vignobles de l’Estuaire held its first Odyssée des deux rives tasting on Île de Patiras for local wine influencers and trade prescribers. Around forty growers presented red and white wines from
Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux ,Côtes de Bourg ,Médoc andHaut-Médoc . -
Hailstorm shortly before the grape harvest in Gironde
A hailstorm swept across Gironde's right bank on August 26, shortly before harvest, with hail reaching 20 centimeters in vineyards and severely affecting
Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux , according to Blick. -
This red wine under €7 won 3 gold medals and 2 stars in the Hachette Guide
According to leparisien.fr, Château de Bourdieu 2020, a
Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux red promoted by Cdiscount for under €7, won 3 gold medals and 2 stars in the Hachette Guide. -
This gold-medal red wine under 7 euros earned 2 stars in the Hachette guide
Château Bourdieu 2020
Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux red wine won a gold medal and 2 stars in the Hachette Guide and is promoted for under €7 at Cdiscount ahead of year-end meals.