A new classification of Bordeaux wines outperformed the region as a whole in 2009 sales, a wine producers' association says.

The so-called appellations of Blaye, Cadillac, Castillon and Francs decided in 2004 to join together under the Cotes de Bordeaux label to improve performance in the international market by playing on the famous Bordeaux name more clearly.

In 2009, the first year of sales under the new label, 46 million bottles of Cotes de Bordeaux were marketed, the association, the Union des Cotes de Bordeaux, said.

Sales fell by 7 per cent on the previous year, but the label did better than the 9 per cent fall reported by the Bordeaux region as a whole.

Seven million bottles were sold on the export market, a fall of 9 per cent compared to a 14 per cent drop for all Bordeaux wines.