The wine flows in the blood of Gérard Bertrand. Like his father Georges and his grandmother Paule before him, the wine culture of southern France, the largest winery in the world with more than 60 types of grapes that generate all kinds of wines: white, rosé, red, bubbly and fortified, is deeply rooted in its DNA. It was a fate for him to escape. At almost two meters tall, a slim, muscular body and a musical voice typical of the region, the 55-year-old is a force to be taken into account. Its 16 wineries in Occitanie employ more than 320 workers and sell lots of references and tens of millions of bottles a year. A reference in biodynamics, it owns 850 hectares of wineries governed by a sustainable, holistic and moral philosophy and is the largest in France qualified through Demeter (the global biodynamic authentication organization).
Incarnating the renewal of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, Bertrand intends to conquer the world. In 2000, its turnover was 34 million euros; last year was 145 million euros and its wines are marketed in 175 countries, with Europe, North America and Japan being its main mature markets. Its call has become a genuine brand: it is the world’s number one biodynamic wine and the leading distributor of premium French wines in the American market. Proud of its region, you need to reveal your best perspective and your diversity of terroirs: from the altitude vineyards near the Pyrenees and the volcanic soils of the Terraces of Larzac to the coastal spaces overlooking the Mediterranean. “It’s my way,” he says. “I fell in love with the area. I had many features, but the other features didn’t matter to me because my father had taught me, was satisfied and was ready. It’s more than a passion, it’s a mission. I sit at my center and I appreciate it every day.
Acquired in 2002, Bertrand’s flagship is the 1000-hectare Chateau L’Hospitalet in La Clape, whose 2017 Grand Vin Rouge was voted the world’s most productive red wine at last year’s International Challenge Wine. An old 13th-century hospice, it is located on a ridge overlooking the Mediterranean and the captivating fishing village of Gruissan, known for its marshes. With its hotel, restaurant, property tours, wine cellar, wine shop and summer jazz festival, it embodies the Mediterranean lifestyle and attracts 200,000 visitors each year, making it a vital wine tourism destination in the region, but Bertrand’s wine empire extends much further. Its first acquisition was Cigale in Fontfroide in 1995, then Chateau Laville Bertrou in Minervois-La Liviniére in 1997, Domaine de l’Aigle in Roquetaillade in 2007, Ch’teau Aigues Vives in Les Corbyres et Corbyres Boutenac in 2010, Chateau La Sauvageonne en Terraces du Larzac in 2011, Chateau de La Soujeole in Malepére in 2012, Chateau des Karantes and Chateau de Tarailhan in La Clape in 2014 Array Castellum in Carcassonne and Chateau des Deux Rocs and Clos du Temple in Cabris in 2017. If the stars line up, plan to buy more vineyards and double their length in five years. Without fear of dimmersing yourself headlong into the wonderful unknown, opting for a new domain is a matter of intuition. “When I buy a domain, it takes me 3 minutes to fall in love or not,” he says. “My first impression is the most productive and I can feel where I can make iconic wines.”
Having completed his first winemaking at the age of 10, Bertrand already has forty-five years of delight in his credit. He recalls, “My father said to me, ‘You know, Gerard, you’re lucky because when you’re 50, you have 40 years of fun.'” His father was one of the first to create and market the super premium wines at a time when the Languedoc was overlooked for the manufacture of customers’ products. Just three decades ago, this symbol began to be replaced and was a fierce struggle to eliminate prejudices about Languedoc wines. Bertrand reveals: “My father was very sensible because he was one of the first to perceive the perspective of the territory and to have the ambition to reveal the terroirs of the region: Fitou, Corbyres, Minervois, Saint-Chinian, Tautavel, etc. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Languedoc region produced reasonable table wine in bulk because demand was so high that winemakers focused on quantity rather than quality (the French drank 150 to 500 litres a year), but Bertrand’s father was one of the first to believe in the odds of terroirs. Before his time, it was vital for him to explain to his peers that we needed to reconsider behaviors, decrease yields, pick grapes later and start creating a new winemaking process. In the 1970s and 1980s, his father convinced manufacturers to bottle their most productive crops and start selling and selling them. Then the wine fairs in France set out to make Languedoc a destination, and it was the beginning of the jo urney.
At the age of 22, when his father died in a car accident, Bertrand suddenly found himself at the head of the family business circle, taking over the Chateau de Villemajou in 1987, while chasing a rugby fan. He played for Racing Club Narbonne Méditerranée, then became captain of the team at Stade Francois Paris Rugby, before retiring in 1994 to concentrate entirely on wine. “I was a rugby player and I had to handle rugby and wine for 8 years,” he recalls. “That means I was running 60 hours a week in the vineyards and I was positioning myself for the rugby season. We played 40 games a year and lived like a monk for almost 8 years. He was exhausted when he was 30. . When I stopped playing, I expanded my fond of wine. I created Gérard Bertrand Wines as an umbrella; I was encouraged to stop at Mondavi in California, Antinori in Italy and Moueix in Bordeaux. My concept was to advertise the south of France as a destination, and that’s what we did, but it was a long journey. For 25 years, it was a wonderful war because the south of France was not yet on the world wine list, and it was vital for me to say that you have some other region to put on your list. Today we are the leader and the first French wine in the American market. We’re number two in Canada. We are the number one in biodynamic agriculture, which we started in Cigalus.
However, in 1987, the Languedoc market was complicated: costs were low and bottles difficult to sell. There were already very elegant wines, but the general symbol of dominance remained disastrous; perhaps they feared success, lacked a culture of excellence and were repressed by an inferiority complex compared to Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne. Bertrand was looking for the best quality, but how would he do it? Rugvia would show you the way. After speaking to Max Guazzini, president of the Stade Francais and a communication and market genius, he understood that it was obligatory to break the rules, challenge stereotypes, expand a strong logo and a rich diversity of wines, much more than a singles camp. He exchanged purchased grapes to winemakers, who bottled, then established his logo with patented wines that exhibited the terroir and sold at higher costs. He learned by trial and error, not doing things right, but refused to compromise the quality of his wines. Always thinking globally and not just in terms of France or Europe, he traveled and observed. He was able to buy new domain names by establishing smart relationships with banks. Understanding the desire to marry other local manufacturers and reinforce an unusual identity, she wrote “South of France” on the labels of her wines, rather than a name that is difficult to understand, which attracts a foreign audience. Today it sells more wines abroad than in France.
Together with other rugby players who had continued to paint in the food and oenological sector like the Camberabero brothers, Dominique Erbani, Claude Spanghero, Daniel Dubroca, Philippe Saint-André and Philippe Sella, created the group “Gastronom Rugbyes”, promoting a product that captures the flavor of the terroir and shows the know-how and oenological: foie gras du GersArray Castelnaudary cassoulet, local seasonal fruits , ravioli of the village of Romans, cheeses from the Pyrenees and wines from the south of France. They learned what could be accomplished if all club members regrouped. Soon, primary supermarkets such as Carrefour, Leclerc, Systéme U, Auchan and Intermarché adhered to his concept, his company flourished and established high-level contacts within the French distribution of netpaintings.
Bertrand is a pioneer of large-scale biological and biodynamic agriculture. Tracking the moon’s cycles throughout the year of winemaking, from harvesting to winemaking and from aging to bottling, is expensive. It takes two to three times more workers to be in general contact with the winery to stumble upon the first symptoms of disease without the use of herbicides, fungicides or insecticides. Finding the best balance between man and nature, the farmer becomes deeply aware of the fitness of the soil. Biodiversity is essential to maintain the balance of the ecosystem: it is as vital to observe insects, wildlife and soil microbial life as it is in vines. The basis of this agricultural approach is the use of compost and biodynamic arrangements with medicinal plants rather than chemical treatments, guided by the forces of the earth and the cosmos, due to the influence of the moon, sun and stars during the expansion cycle of a plant. it is essential, especially the inner planets and celestial bodies closest to the sun (the moon Mercury, Venus and Mars), and to a lesser extent the outer planets (Jupiter and Saturn). At first, other people thought biodynamics was a cult. Many today is the benchmark with its sustainable agriculture strategies, its preservation of the terroir and its deep respect for the environment and the terroir. At the beginning of Bertrand, 745 hectares of wineries in France were Demeter certified; today, that number has risen to 6,553 hectares.
“We are all connected and we also need to share the message that nature is more powerful and intelligent than we are,” he explains. “This means that we will have to perceive and stick to the rhythm and biorhythm of the cosmos and nature, to open our minds, souls and visions. You see the past looks and perfection of creation, and you perceive that on the planet, they have all the ingredients to save a plant from disease. That’s what we’re doing and it’s worked. Now we have a wonderful experience and more than a hundred people more committed to this program. It is a source of joy for them as it no longer uses chemicals and can remain safe. See many more insects, underground animals and birds. He feels that nature is happy, which is important, and he can also get it in a glass of wine because the power is there. you don’t measure power in a glass of wine, but you can feel it. This means that you go from the undeniable measure of anything to feel it.
Wondering about the effect of the moon and planets and its interaction with rocks and soil limestone about the taste of wine, Bertrand understood that a wonderful wine is connected to the universe around it. A devotee of homeopathic medicine, who had not taken antibiotics for 35 years, made the decision to verify the teachings of the 1924 book, Agricultural Course, through Rudolf Steiner, the father of biodynamic agriculture. Thus, in 2002, he and his head of biodynamic viticulture, Gilles de Baudus, began experimenting with 4 hectares of vineyards in Cigalus dividing the plot in two: two in biodynamics and two in traditional agriculture. Two years later, the benefits of biodynamics have become apparent: fewer diseases, no need for chemicals, more diversity of nature in vineyards, fresher grapes, strength and minerality with a more intense flavor, more wonderful wine quality with greater potential for protection, wonderful balance, low pH and much more glass potency. “You don’t want a glass of wine to stay alive,” Bertrand says. “When you have a glass of wine, it’s for fun, excitement or sharing. We no longer have to commit to nature, the floor or the basement. My philosophy is to respect the ecosystem, biodiversity and leave a wonderful planet in the long term. Generations.
Now spread the word and inspired other local winemakers and cooperatives to do the same. Encouraging independent winemakers in Languedoc-Roussillon to reorient their agriculture towards sustainability, by enacting a decensical plan to expand biological or biodynamic grapes, sharing their knowledge of conversion and ensuring the acquisition of farm crops in return, supplying manufacturers with technical, organizational and economic capacity in achieving their objectives. Believing to be the substitute, it even sells Change crops from spouse wineries in conversion to organic farming. “We have over a hundred spouses,” he says. “When they are in the 3-year conversion period, we inspire them and pay 90% of the load of their grapes to help them replace because when you move from traditional to biological agriculture, the first 3 years are when you have to invest the maximum cash because you have to have more people running in the cellar and buy new materials.”
Gérard Bertrand’s wide diversity of wines is simply impressive. There are partial bottles of Cote des Roses at $9.99, a 2016 Le Viala singles winery for $74.99, brandy at $80, the Clos d’Ora 2016 retail for $250 and a magnum from Clos du Temple 2018 to $390, which is the maximum price. pink on the planet. Named after the Templars with its animated bottle through square-based pyramid-shaped temples, the 2019 Clos du Temple was voted the Best Rosé in the World through Drinks Business magazine. Then there’s Legend Vintage, Bertrand’s winery of incredibly rare vintages from 1875 to 1977 of fortified herbal wines of the names Maury, Rivesaltes and Banuyls worth 10,000 euros. Bertrand, a local boy, who spent most of his life in Narbover, has swum against the tide and charted his own path. With Covid-19 enraged, he did what no one else can do and made the decision to continue his annual five-day jazz festival, which has become a major musical occasion contributing to the expansion of the region’s culture and tourism since 2004. He admits: “It was so simple to say, “Forget this year, I’m going to take a week off.” But it was vital to do so because other people deserve it. If we stick to certain fitness precautions, it is vital to satisfy other people and convey a message of hope, because now the global is difficult ».
Linked to the universe, like its wines, Bertrand has added a non-secular dimension, opening hearts and minds to new experiences. Believing that wine will have to speak with the soul and arouse emotions, the Clos d’Ora (“Ora” means “prayer” in Latin) occupies a special place in its heart. It was as he walked along a plot of land covered with dry stone walls in the Minervois at 220 meters above the point of the sea and under the ruins of an ancient fold that he felt in harmony with nature, having a revelation in this magical position. After acquiring the site in 1997, ten years later it was converted into a winery, having known its perspective of a wonderful terroir capable of creating an exceptional wine that ages wonderfully. The earth had spoken to him and had served as a position of meditation and quiet reflection. Today it is a small winery of nine hectares edrated on horseback and mule to weave links between mineral, vegetable, animal and man, everything is done by hand and an annual production of 10,000 bottles. Having the luxury of time, it was not until 2014 that the first age (2012) of Clos d’Ora was born with its deep intense red color, which combines 4 varieties of grapes native to the Mediterranean: Syrah, Grenache, Mourval and Carignan.
Bertrand reveals: “I fell in love with the elegant look of Clos d’Ora, which is above a geological fault. You can feel a strong connection to the cosmos. Going from a wonderful wine to a perfect wine, the difference is the terroir Through the Clos d’Ora, the Clos du Temple or farms with a single winery like La Forge or L’Hospitalitas that have exclusive terroirs, we deliver a sense of place, which means the message and the taste of somewhere. “With Clos d’Ora, he created a wine that symbolizes peace, love and harmony. Speaking, Bertrand’s holistic technique is reflected even in his way of life based on physical and intellectual well-being. He practices yoga and meditation daily, jogs in his cellars in the morning, limits his meat consumption and believes in the strength of positive thinking. “I think it’s vital to make sense of your life, to know what you need to do, why you’re here, and what your project is,” he concludes. “You can’t do anything or you can take a look to make efforts to serve the planet and use the time you spend here for percentage of smart waves and smart information, because now we feel like we’re among the changes. A new paradigm is coming: less fear, more love, love for people, but also for Mother Nature.
I’ve been a luxury lifestyle editor and editor for 14 years, which means I’ve met today’s creators and agitators.
I’ve been a luxury editor and editor for 14 years, which means I met today’s changers and agitators and went backstage to observe master craftsmen in paintings creating everything from Cartier watches and Moynat handbags to Rolls-Royce and Riva cars. Yachts. I’ve rubbed shoulders with the biggest names in luxury, been partying with celebrities and frequented the most exciting artists and designers of our generation, while watching the emerging stars of art, design, architecture, watchmaking and jewelry. For the sake of lifestyle journalism, I have interviewed people like Monica Bellucci, Lenny Kravitz, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, David Adjaye, Frank Gehry, Shigeru Ban, Karim Rashid, Marc Newson, David LaChapelle and Yue Minjun, sharing my concepts with readers of Robb Report, T Magazine, Artinfo.com, International Watch, The Peak, Asia Tatler, Prestige, Surface, Watch Journal, Manifesto, Art , among other things. I have the ultimate productive task in the world. Follow me on Instagram: yjeanm.