The Côtes area of Bordeaux is currently in the news with the four of the Cotes appellation regrouping under the new ‘Côtes de Bordeaux’ as of the 2008 vintage.
These family run, merlot dominated vineyards, although geographical spread throughout the right bank of Bordeaux, all benefit from terroir on slopes of limestone and clay with mainly south westerly exposure running down to the Garonne, Gironde and Dordogne valleys.
The Côtes de Blaye, henceforth Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux, is the largest appellation and the most northerly and as with other côtes appellations some producers use Malbec, albeit in small percentages, in their blends.
The wine maker at Château Magdeleine Bouhou loves it so much she has produced two 100% Malbec wines, the first a Cotes Appellation is aged in oak under the château name.
She has also produced a 100% Malbec table wine, La Petite Madeleine, very light and fruity which has more in common with the Loire or Beaujolais than a classic Bordeaux. Served chilled as an aperitif and with its fun label and flat 6 bottle cartons it is a very accessible wine, in style and price.

Madelaine Bouhou doesn’t take its name from the sobs of wine producers trying to sell their wine with the current strong euro, but from the sound of the wind blowing across to the property from the Gironde Estuary!