A tall, lean, charismatic, former pro rugby player from the Languedoc in southern France, Gérard Bertrand has, over three decades, “almost single-handedly raised the reputation and quality of the region,” Wine Spectator senior editor Kristen Bieler said, introducing him to the Wine Experience audience.
From modest beginnings, Bertrand has amassed an empire of 17 wine estates, totaling 2,200 acres of vineyards—all farmed biodynamically. His wines, which include the under-$20 Cote des Roses bottlings, are among the top-selling French brands. He released a $200 rosé from the Languedoc, which Bieler called “a very bold move.” He’s the experienced vintner behind wildly successful Hampton Water rosé, the label founded by Jesse Bongiovi with his father, rock star Jon Bon Jovi, and friend Ali Thomas. And he appeared on Wine Spectator’s cover earlier this year.
Bertrand explained that his grandmother had the vision to plant the first family plot of vines, Carignan, in 1920. His father followed that vision for quality wine in the Languedoc, but in the 1960s and 70s, the region did not have a reputation for fine wine. Bertrand’s first passion was playing rugby, which he quipped, “is like a religion in the south of France.”
Still, he worked growing grapes and making wine with his father. Later, he discovered Rudolf Steiner’s principles of biodynamics, which he called “a game-changer in my life,” coming to understand that “biodynamics is like homeopathic medicine by the plant for the plant.”
After three years of farming that way, Bertrand and his team saw changes in the vineyard and in the cellar, with the wines better expressing their terroir. This was extremely important, he said. “I don’t make wine for delivering the taste of something, but the taste of somewhere.”
As much as Steiner was an influence, so was Napa icon Robert Mondavi, whom Bertrand met in 1999. Impressed with how Mondavi had linked wine, gastronomy and art, he took those lessons to the south of France, establishing a luxury hotel, spa, restaurants and music festival at Château l’Hospitalet on the Mediterranean coast.
Clos du Temple—the source of that $200 rosé—is situated in Cabrières on land once belonging to the Knights Templar and recognized 400 years ago by King Louis XIV for its excellent wines. “Why did I decide to create an iconic rosé?” Bertrand asked, answering, “Because the rosé category deserves it.”
From this special place, he believed he could create a special wine, with the potential to age in the cellar for 10 to 20 years. “You can collect, for the first time ever, rosé vintages and discover the wines’ secondary aromas,” Bertrand asserted. Paying tribute to millennia of Mediterranean civilizations, he created a unique cellar for Clos du Temple with pyramid-shaped vats. “It’s 5,000 years of history that we want to deliver into the glass.”
Describing the pale-hued 2022 vintage of Gérard Bertrand Languedoc-Cabrières Rosé Clos du Temple (92 points), he said, “We want to deliver a multi-dimensional experience.” While he picks up aromas of apricot, peach, green and white pepper, Bertrand says, the most important thing to him is the “vibration” felt in your mouth. Though the Clos du Temple rosé is a good pairing with spicy food or shellfish, he recommended, you can also “meditate with a glass of wine like this.”
