"In early March, the I.N.A.O. (French National Institute for the Appellations of Origins) will ratify the reform and then the minister of Agriculture will sign the decree," explains Christophe Chateau, the aptly named head of the association which regroups the côtes or 'hillside' wines of Bordeaux.
The aim of this new label is to restructure and simplify. At the present date four appellations (with perhaps more to follow) are concerned by this reform : Premières Côtes de Blaye, Côtes de Castillon, Bordeaux-Côtes de Francs and Premières Côtes de Bordeaux. These will all now be grouped under the general "Côtes de Bordeaux" appellation and represent a total of 700,000 hecto-litres or 90 million bottles, which account for 14% of production in the most important wine producing 'department' of France.
Bottles costing 5 - 10 euros retail price :
The 1,500 producers of these four appellations will be allowed to add the name of their specific area either next to the "Côtes de Bordeaux" heading or below it but the real aim is to associate the word "Côtes" (hillside) which is positively perceived - the high ground vineyards benefit from better sun exposure and good drainage - with "Bordeaux" which of course is world famous. "We also want to keep the specific 'terroir' names, all from the right bank of the Garonne River," adds Mr.Chateau.
Even though 86% of sales of these four appellation wines go to the domestic market, namely the 5 - 10 euro price range, it is hoped that the reform will produce a more simplified and visible offer for the foreign markets.
In effect, who outside France knows where the Côtes de Castillon" are? The new Côtes de Bordeaux may well benefit from the 'mass effect' as do both the A.O.C. Médoc and Haut-Médoc.
Merchant branded wines :
Moreover, merchants and cooperatives will be able to produce "Côtes de Bordeaux" brand wines by blending wines from the four A.O.Cs, which beforehand could only be sold under brand labels as A.O.C. Bordeaux, the baseline regional appellation.
A massive media campaign will be launched to accompany the label change of these 90 million bottles. The hope is that the other "Côtes" A.O.Cs (Côtes de Bourg, Saintes Foy-Bordeaux and Graves de Vayres) will join the first four.
The last A.O.C. creation in the Bordeaux region was Pessac-Léognan (Graves) in 1987.
After this grouping of the 4 "Côtes" into one single A.O.C, there will be 54 appellations instead of 57 in the Bordeaux region.
Author:
César Compadre
doc@sudouest.com
S.O. 23/01/09
Translated by Maxine Colas.
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