Côtes de Bordeaux
1 appellation on 5 stretches of hillside that never touch, from the Gironde to the eastern edge of the department: red on its own, or red and white under 1 of 5 place names, on more than 10,500 hectares.
The place
The Côtes are the hills of Bordeaux that face its rivers: Blaye above the Gironde, Cadillac along the right bank of the Garonne, Castillon and Francs on the Dordogne east of Saint-Émilion, and Sainte-Foy at the eastern edge of the department. They do not touch one another. Together they count more than 10,500 hectares, 1,000 growers and 9 cooperatives, and make an average of 500,000 hectoliters, 97% of it red and 3% white. A red may be sold as Côtes de Bordeaux alone, or under the name of the place it comes from.
The rules
The reds are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, also called Cot, and Merlot, with Carmenère under 10% and Petit Verdot under 15% of the vines, and Malbec must always be blended with another principal variety. The whites are Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris, Sémillon and Muscadelle, with Colombard and Ugni Blanc to 15%, and only Blaye, Francs and Sainte-Foy may make them; a dry white asks 10.5% of natural alcohol and 62 hectoliters a hectare with a ceiling of 72. At least 4,500 vines a hectare, and 5,000 at Castillon. The place name asks more of a red than the plain name: 198 g/l of sugar for Merlot against 189, 11.5% of natural alcohol against 11%, and 52 hectoliters a hectare against 55, with a ceiling of 65 for both. Every red is raised until March 15 and sold from March 31 of the year after the harvest. Francs and Sainte-Foy also make sweet whites, up to the liquoreux, the fully sweet white, of Sainte-Foy, at 255 g/l of sugar and 15% of natural alcohol. No grower may weed a whole plot with chemicals. The cahier des charges (the appellation’s official rulebook) in force, the appellation’s official rulebook, was homologated on June 4, 2026.
The names
No classification. The appellation grew out of older ones: Premières Côtes de Blaye, recognized on September 11, 1936; Premières Côtes de Bordeaux, on July 31, 1937; Bordeaux Côtes de Castillon, on July 15, 1955; Bordeaux Côtes de Francs, on May 26, 1967. Their growers began working together in 1975 and founded the Association des Côtes de Bordeaux in 1985. The decree of October 29, 2009 made them 1 appellation, and Sainte-Foy, an appellation since 1937, joined as the 5th place name in 2016.
- Colors
- Red; dry white under Blaye, Francs and Sainte-Foy; sweet white under Francs and Sainte-Foy
- Place names
- Blaye, Cadillac, Castillon, Francs, Sainte-Foy
- Vineyard
- More than 10,500 hectares, 1,000 growers, 9 cooperatives; 500,000 hectoliters, 97% red
- Grapes
- Red: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot; Carmenère and Petit Verdot. White: Sauvignon, Sauvignon Gris, Sémillon, Muscadelle; Colombard and Ugni Blanc
- Density
- 4,500 vines a hectare at least; 5,000 at Castillon
- Yield
- Red 55 hectoliters, 52 with a place name, ceiling 65; dry white 62, ceiling 72
- Alcohol
- Red 11% natural, 11.5% with a place name; dry white 10.5%
- Release
- Reds from March 31 of the year after the harvest
- Classified
- No classification
- AOC since
- October 29, 2009; Sainte-Foy from 2016; cahier of June 4, 2026
Sources: FGVB, cahier des charges Côtes de Bordeaux, arrêté du 4 juin 2026 · INAO, comité national du 8 juin 2016, Côtes de Bordeaux
The stack
The same ground in Côtes de Bordeaux may also be labeled Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur and Crémant de Bordeaux. A grower chooses which appellation to sell under, and the narrowest is almost always the dearest.
It shares named communes with Blaye, Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux, Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux, Cadillac, Sainte-Foy Côtes de Bordeaux, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux, Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion, Côtes de Bourg, Loupiac and Sainte-Croix-du-Mont.
The appellations of Bordeaux are stacked, not laid side by side. The map draws the whole stack. Open the map