The Côtes de Bordeaux is always a source of great value Bordeaux, especially in decent vintages. I don’t expect this to be news to you, but it is worth repeating! 2025 is an exciting year for the best terroirs in Bordeaux and there are notable successes for me amongst the Bordeaux Côtes – in my tastings this includes Cadillac, Blaye, Francs and Castillon. Very good wines have been made at Château Alcée, Château Côte Monpezat, Château d’Aiguilhe, Château de Laussac and Clos Puy Arnaud in Castillon. There are also good wines to be had in Cadillac including Château Carignan, Château de Ricard and Château Réaut. In the Francs, Château La Prade and Château Puygueraud are very impressive for the reds with Château Puygueraud and Château Les Charmes Godard looking great for the whites. Château d’Aiguilhe has also succeeded with an excellent white [100% Sauvignon Blanc] in 2025.

Overall, 2025 is a serious vintage in the Côtes de Bordeaux. The heat and drought concentrated the yields but cool August nights alongside the water stress have led to this strange simultaneity in the wines – deeply fruited, well-structured wines with strong [yet ripe] tannin profiles and good acids but generally not overwhelming alcohols [13.5-14% is usual]. There will be great comparative tastings to be done down the years of 2022 versus 2025 for contrast. It’s a bit like the 2015 comparison with 2016 or the 2009 versus 2010 [or 1995 versus 1996 or even 1985 versus 1986 if you are getting grey like me…].

Here are my detailed 2025 tasting notes. Most of the wines were tasted blind at the Grand Cercle tasting at Château de la Dauphine. This is always a very well organised tasting. The other notes come from visits to the Thienponts at Château Pavie Macquin and the Neippergs at Château Canon-la-Gaffelière. I hope you find the notes useful. The words are always more important than the numbers.

Château Alcée, Castillon – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep and attractive; spicy and fresh and fruit driven; spicy and intense palate; spicy; nice; more grippy; has quite a dry sensation on the very end which adds punctuation. [85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 13.9% alcohol, 20hl/ha, 14.2ha vineyard]. Tasted 21/4/26. Drink 2028-2037. 91-93

Château Carignan, Cadillac – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep and bold; colour tight to rim; legs; intense looking; intense briary fruits with some oak to integrate; quite black cherry fruit emerges; full and saturated style if lacking complexity; serious entry; some Cabernet influence for sure? More savoury tones and a bit tighter, more classical on the palate; with the emphasis on the structure and the sinew. Feels more ambitious and potentially fine. Suave. Tasted blind at Le Grand Cercle 19/4/26. Drink 2028-2035. 90-91+

Château Côte Monpezat, Cuvée Compostelle, Castillon – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep and saturated colour; opaque at centre; arterial looking; legs; very lifted and fruity; spicy cabernet franc influence [or terroir]; attractive herbal notes; like this savoury notes; it does leap from the glass; menthol; camphor; also attractive creamy note; polished and emerges in the glass; strong entry; plenty of extract and structure; mineral and limestone influence; spices; has freshness and life too; with structure and oak. Impressive. Good positive finish. Bit of tannin on the end [wood?] but this will resolve during élevage. Tasted blind at Le Grand Cercle 19/4/26. Drink 2028-2035. 90-91+

Château d’Aiguilhe, Castillon – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep and saturated; deep at the centre; nice freshness with some tar and plum notes; along with some spices; nicely polished; layered on the nose; nicely structured; fresh; good acidity and lift; this works very well; nice palate creamy notes but also has freshness and punch. Appetising Aiguilhe. Vigorous. [80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 20% new oak, 13.5% alcohol, yield 30 hl/ha.] Tasted 21/4/26. Drink 2029-2040. 91-93+

Château de Laussac, Cuvée Sasha, Castillon – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep; little loser at the edge than some; spicy, briary fruit; attractive and open with good purity; has complexity and like this; quite ripe too; black and red fruits; with some spicy lift; little VA lift here? Soft and easy on the palate; this is full and soft and drinking well already; lacks the intensity of some; but this is easy, generous Bordeaux. Nice twist at the end retains a certain freshness. Tasted blind at Le Grand Cercle 19/4/26. Drink 2029-2035. 89-91+

Château Haut Bertinerie, Blaye – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Mid depth; purple at edge good colour; some smoke, char; savoury notes; fruit beneath; reasonably integrated; oak sits above the fruit currently; [impressive levels of extract here]; oak needs to integrate; smooth and full with some wood tannins on the palate; little masked at present; lacks the fruit structure or feels a bit submerged. Bit loose on the end. Little oak on the end. Tasted blind at Le Grand Cercle 19/4/26. Drink 2029-2035. 88-90+

Château La Prade, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep and dark; chalky mineral note with some black fruits beneath; more chalk and minerals on the palate; terroir here has a small layer of clay over the chalk; attractive fruit; quite intense and nicely done on the mid palate; quite intense on the back end. Quite chunky style and plenty here. [30% Cabernet Franc,70% Merlot, 14.1% alcohol, yields 33hl/ha, vineyard 6.5ha]. Tasted 19/4/26. Drink 2029-2037. 90-91+

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep and saturated; good colour; dense in the middle; some chalk; ripe merlot; this works well; attractive sweet aromatics; soft and supple wine but with intensity; grip and structure; chalky structure; density here and of the vintage. Works very well indeed. Super Puygueraud. Interesting to compare this with the 2022. [80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 14.3% alcohol, yield 32hl/ha, vineyard 33ha]. Tasted 21/4/26. Drink 2029-2040. 90-92+

Château Réaut, Cadillac – Côtes de Bordeaux

Deep colour; legs; tight to rim; purple; opaque looking; ripe; some fig and marzipan notes; deep; molasses; lots of fruit here; little toffee; could be slightly fresher; some cherry opens up, emerges on aeration and fresher; good entry; lots of fruit and extract [prepare!]; has cooler black cherry notes on the palate; clean and attractive; good-ish narrative; falls away a tad on the end and a bit of extract evident. Quite fresh on the finish. This will round out during élevage. Tasted blind at Le Grand Cercle 19/4/26. Drink 2028-2035. 87-89+

Château Réaut, Carat de Château Réaut, Cadillac – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep; tight to the rim; redder et edge; deep; attractive black cherry and plum tones; nice cool fruit here; has life; zappy; little minerality too; quite pent up; extract and soft tannins [nicely handled]; has texture and zap; like this; compact and with some sinewy fruit. Thoughtful and should be good. Has genuine length. Tasted blind at Le Grand Cercle 19/4/26. Drink 2029-2037. 90-91+

Château Reynon, Premières Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep, legs; tight to rim; redder at edge; more oak influenced; seam of fruit beneath; needs to integrate further; black cherry along with the oak; quite focused but a little 2D currently; opens up in the glass; still the oak but there is integration; quite serious and intense; has structure and texture and it seems to absorb the oak [just]; structured and mineral; has density and ambition; feels a bit strong on the oak and the extraction, but kind of comes together on the palate. Again this will come together during élevage. Tasted blind at Le Grand Cercle 19/4/26. Drink 2029-2037. 88-90+

Clos Puy Arnaud, Castillon – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep and saturated; again colour tight to the rim; opaque at centre; some graphite, marzipan; white rock; has plenty of fruit on the nose; with a mineral note; again like this; some morello cherry notes too; later the fruit emerged; more black cherry notes; the graphite has given away; like this a lot. Quite sappy but has freshness and black cherry and plum tones with some oak; nice freshness and acidity too – not tiring this. Really good effort. Tasted blind at Le Grand Cercle 19/4/26. Drink 2029-2040. 91-93+

Grand Vin de Château de Ricard, Cadillac – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Deep and saturated again; fractionally less purple; legs; nice pure cool black cherry tones with plums; a total contrast; lovely seam of plummy purity; bravo; emphasis on the beautify fruit which is very pure and crystalline; soft and v Bordeaux on the palate; ideal with steak frites; more unadorned but like the emphasis on the cool fruit; quite sappy on the palate; has vigour and minerality. Good stuff. Tasted blind at Le Grand Cercle 19/4/26. Drink 2029-2035. 90-92+

Whites

These wines below had breadth and depth, which you’d expect, but the limestone terroir in Francs and Castillon have certainly given added freshness in 2025 in these properties. These are all very satisfying white wines which certainly belie the stresses of the 2025 vintage for the whites in a hot and dry year, especially in terms of freshness and zap. These wines all have that.

Château Charmes Godard, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Brilliant silver; very attractive looking; good aromatics, pear drops; candy; has weight and sweet ripe fruit on the palate; has zap and energy too. Bravo! [65% Sémillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Sauvignon Gris, yield 40hl/ha, organic certified]. Tasted 21/4/26 at Château Pavie Macquin. Drink 2026-2034. 92+

Le Blanc d’Aiguilhe, Bordeaux Blanc, 2025

Brillant looking; steely and spicy on the nose; very precise; oysters; nicely done; nicely done on the middle; textured; like this – they are making only 9000 bottles; on the limestone it really works. Racy stuff. I’m sure this will develop in bottle but why wait! [100% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% new oak, 13% alcohol, bottled in March]. Tasted 21/4/26 at Château Canon-la-Gaffelière. Drink now – 2030. 92+

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2025

Brilliant in the glass; aromatics are fresh and grassy; also candy and pear drops; nice and attractive on the palate with the pear drops and some lanolin notes too; fresh but quite broad. Works well. [80% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Sauvignon Gris, 50hl/ha, organic certified]. Tasted 21/4/26 at Château Pavie Macquin. Drink 2026-2030. 91+