Matthieu Cosse Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux 2022

Bordeaux and natural wine don’t always get mentioned in the same sentence without somebody in the room looking slightly nervous. Matthieu Cosse’s Bordeaux project manages to bridge those two worlds remarkably well. Traditional Bordeaux varieties, low-intervention winemaking and none of the heavy-handed polish that can make modern Bordeaux feel oddly exhausting.

Working alongside Jérôme Ossard in Blaye and Fronsac, Cosse focuses on smaller vineyard plots overlooking the Gironde estuary, farming limestone and clay soils with a much more hands-on, terroir-driven approach than you’d normally expect at these prices. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon form the backbone of the reds, while Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle appear in the whites.

The red wines lean fresher and more vibrant than classic blockbuster Bordeaux. Black cherry, plum, herbs and soft graphite notes show up regularly, but with gentler tannins and brighter acidity underneath. Concrete ageing helps keep the fruit lively rather than drowning everything in oak. The whites are particularly good fun too. Citrus, pear, beeswax and salty mineral notes with far more texture than people expect from everyday Bordeaux Blanc.

What makes the project interesting is that it still tastes unmistakably like Bordeaux, just stripped of some of the excess. No glossy international styling, no aggressively expensive positioning, just properly balanced wines made with care and restraint.

There’s also something satisfying about seeing producers like Cosse applying natural wine principles to regions that traditionally resisted them. It proves Bordeaux doesn’t always need to be grand, expensive or painfully serious to be good. Sometimes it can just be delicious and honest instead.