Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux
How to read this
Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ohn” is a nasal vowel: say it through the nose, with no n. The French r comes from the back of the throat. The recording is the reference.
Red only, from 9 communes on the slopes above the Dordogne where the battle of Castillon was fought in 1453, on starfish limestone, molasse and a lake limestone that carries the name of the place.
The place
The rules
Red only, from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Merlot, with Carmenère to 10% and Petit Verdot to 15% as accessory varieties. Malbec is never bottled by itself: here, as in every red of the
The names
No classification touches Castillon. What it has instead is a name that has changed 2 times. It was recognized as Bordeaux-Côtes de Castillon on July 15, 1955 and became Côtes de Castillon on February 9, 1989. On October 29, 2009 a decree gathered 4 areas,
- Color
- Red
- Communes
- 9: Belvès-de-Castillon, Castillon-la-Bataille, Gardegan-et-Tourtirac, Les Salles-de-Castillon, Sainte-Colombe, Saint-Genès-de-Castillon, Saint-Magne-de-Castillon, Saint-Philippe-d’Aiguille, and the former Monbadon inside Puisseguin
- Vineyard
- About 2,300 hectares and close to 200 growing families, at some 10 hectares apiece; the whole
Côtes de Bordeaux , more than 10,500 hectares, 1,000 growers, 500,000 hectoliters - Soil
- Starfish limestone over the clays and lake limestones of Castillon, and clayey and sandy molasse below; more than 110 meters of relief
- Grapes
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot; Carmenère to 10%, Petit Verdot to 15%
- The Malbec
- Never bottled alone; always blended with another principal variety
- Density
- 5,000 vines a hectare at least
- Yield
- 52 hectoliters a hectare, ceiling 62
- Alcohol
- 11.5% natural at least
- Release
- From March 31 of the year after the harvest
- Farming
- Every grower records the treatment frequency index of his plots
- Classified
- No classification
- AOC since
- July 15, 1955 as Bordeaux-Côtes de Castillon; Côtes de Castillon from February 9, 1989; a place name of
Côtes de Bordeaux from 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
The soil at Castillon rises like a house of 3 floors. On the bottom floor lie sands and clays of old rivers and lakes (molasse), spread by floods across a vast marshy plain that trapped them quickly. The next floor belongs to lakes, which left the beds that carry the town's name.
Those beds were defined in the limestone cliffs above Castillon-la-Bataille. Yet they are mostly clay, green to whitish, limy and compact, with lake limestone slipped between. The top floor is the sea's. Its first advance stopped near
Below the house, by the Dordogne, lie ice age terraces of gravel and pebbles. People knew these slopes early: on one above the river plain, prehistoric hunters camped in the open and left stone tools in abundance, and later toolmakers took flint from the Castillon clays and limestones. The name is the lake's; the summits are the sea's.
- Slope wash and cover10.7%
- River and estuary deposits of today1.2%
- Ice age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebbles15.7%
- Landes sand and the oldest river deposits0.2%
- Agenais molasses: clays and sands above the limestone0.6%
- Starfish limestone and marine marls24.8%
- Lake limestones and clays4.5%
- Molasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes42.2%
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 56 m, and 9 tenths lies between 15 and 99 m. 21.5% of it is steeper than 10%.
Measured section
The line runs 10.4 km, from 46 m to 10 m. Inside the delimited area it lies between 25 and 101 m.
Colors: Slope wash and coverRiver and estuary deposits of todayLandes sand and the oldest river depositsStarfish limestone and marine marlsLake limestones and claysMolasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes
The units, as BRGM prints them
| Code | Name and age, as printed | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Slope wash and cover | 10.7% | |
| CFp | Formations superficielles | 5.1% |
| CF | Formations superficielles | 5.6% |
| River and estuary deposits of today | 1.2% | |
| Fy3-z | Alluvions subactuelles à actuelles indiféernéciées (sic), Pré-boréal à actuel | 1.2% |
| Ice age river terraces: sand, gravel, pebbles | 15.7% | |
| Fxb2 | Basses terrasses (RD Garonne) - Terrasse d'Izon (type 6), Saalien - "Riss" | 6.7% |
| Fxb1 | Basses terrasses (RD Garonne) - Terrasse d'Izon (type 6), Saalien - "Riss" | 9.0% |
| Landes sand and the oldest river deposits | 0.2% | |
| and 1 more unit under 1% each, 0.2% in all | ||
| Agenais molasses: clays and sands above the limestone | 0.6% | |
| and 1 more unit under 1% each, 0.6% in all | ||
| Starfish limestone and marine marls | 24.8% | |
| g1-As | Calcaire à Astéries, Rupélien marin | 24.8% |
| Lake limestones and clays | 4.5% | |
| g1-Cc | Formation du Calcaire de Castillon s.s., Rupélien basal continental | 4.5% |
| Molasses: sands and clays of old rivers and lakes | 42.2% | |
| g1a | Formation de Boisbreteau moy. et formation de la Garde, Rupélien inf. continental | 5.8% |
| e7 | Formation Boisbreteau inf., Priabonien sup. continental | 2.7% |
| e7-g1-A | Molasse du Fronsadais sup. à facies argileux dominant, Priabonien sup. à Rupélien basal continental | 6.9% |
| e7-g1-S | Molasse du Fronsadais sup. à facies sableux dominant, Priabonien sup. à Rupélien basal continental | 14.1% |
| e7c-A | Molasses du Fronsadais inf. à moy. (facies argileux dominant), Priabonien sup. continental | 12.6% |
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 Libourne à 1/50 000, 1995; BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Sainte-Foy-la-Grande à 1/50 000, 1994; BRGM, Notice explicative de la feuille Duras à 1/50 000, 1996; INAO, Délimitation parcellaire des AOC viticoles, file of 2026-10-12 (Licence Ouverte), laid over BRGM BD Charm-50, Gironde (GEO050K_HARM_033, Licence Ouverte 2.0).
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News from Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux
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Clos Puy Arnaud Flies the Flag for CastillonOver 25 years, Thierry Valette has elevated
Clos Puy Arnaud in Castillon, an estate already recognized as a premier cru in the 1874 Féret guide.Castillon’s strongest estates help define the appellation beyond its traditional value positioning. Long-term improvement at individual properties can lift how merchants and drinkers view the wider area.
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Château Robin 2023 puts freshness first
According to Sud Ouest, Château Robin 2023, a
Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux made by brothers Jan and Florian Thienpont, is a fresh, generous and seductive wine ready to drink with lasagna.Castillon remains a useful source of approachable Right Bank Bordeaux, particularly when producers emphasize freshness and immediate drinking appeal.
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La Paulée de Castillon celebrated its second edition
Terre de Vins reports on the second edition of La Paulée de Castillon, a festive wine gathering held on the bridge at Castillon-la-Bataille. The event brought together local winemakers, artisans and the public around shared tables and Bordeaux wines.