Gérard Bertrand is working to make the South of France one of the world’s best wine regions | Canada Voices

Gérard Bertrand began working at his family’s winery in the South of France at the age of 10.

From 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., during school holidays, he would tend the vineyards that his father had purchased in 1970 in the Corbières wine region.

This instilled in him a work ethic and passion for wine that continues to flourish. Since inheriting Domaine de Villemajou in 1987, after his father’s death in a car accident, Bertrand has expanded it to 200 hectares from its original 60, while adding 16 other winery properties and a network of grape growers across the Languedoc-Roussillon wine region.

He now produces a dizzying amount of wine in every imaginable style: red, white, sparkling, rosé and orange, which are widely distributed around the globe. Beyond wine, his expanding empire includes hotels, restaurants and a new publishing imprint to broadcast the beauty and bounty of his corner of the world.

“I want to keep this level of passion for the next 20 years,” says the 60-year-old Bertrand, who launched his eponymous wine company in 1992 to market wines from the South of France. The purchase of Domaine de Cigalus in 1995 and Château Laville Bertrou in 1997 were early steps toward assembling one of the country’s most successful wine ventures.

Bertrand credits the size and diversity of the South of France – which produces more wine than Australia, Chile or South Africa individually, and about three times that of Bordeaux – with the opportunity to produce quality wines at a variety of price points.

In conversation, he flips seamlessly between discussing what’s happening behind the scenes with flagship bottles and larger volume labels without any wavering interest or intensity. No matter the price of the bottle or its pedigree, it exists to provide pleasure, he explains. “This is the DNA of our company.”

Bertrand says his father instilled in him a passion for the South of France and its vinous culture. In his 2015 memoir, Wine, Moon and Stars, he documents his spiritual relationship to winemaking. He has written two additional books – 2022’s Nature at Heart and this year’s Multidimensional Wine – which continue to chronicle his vision for viticulture and wine appreciation. “Sharing these values and passion is an ongoing process,” he says. It helps to forge an appreciation for sustainability and authenticity.

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Half of his wines are certified biodynamic, farmed without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, and following the lunar calendar in an effort to work with nature. Mules are used in vineyard areas with steep inclines where tractors cannot function, at properties including Château de la Soujeole, Clos d’Ora and Clos du Temple, while sheep help prune vines in other areas.

He is also inspired by the vision of Napa Valley winemaker Robert Mondavi which combined hospitality and the arts with wine to make memorable experiences for consumers.

“It’s important for us to make the link between wine, gastronomy, culture and lifestyle,” says Bertrand, who is ready to host the annual Jazz Festival at L’Hospitalet, from July 15 to 19. The wine resort and spa created at Château L’Hospitalet have become one of France’s top wine tourism destinations.

The Gérard Bertrand Group’s extensive wine portfolio includes celebrated red blends made for the Château L’Hospitalet, Clos d’Ora and Domaine de Cigalus labels. But Bertrand’s fortune has soared with his wholehearted embrace of rosé, which has expanded from 5 per cent to nearly 30 per cent of his total production in the past 10 years.

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The crowd-pleasing styles of the Côte des Roses Rosé and Gris Blanc Rosé are popular in Canadian markets, while Clos du Temple represents Bertrand’s efforts to make the world’s best rosé, creating a barrel-fermented, age-worthy pink wine from an Instagram-worthy estate in the rolling hills of Cabrières. (A 750 ml bottle of Clos du Temple sells for $212.90 in Nova Scotia.)

He follows a similar approach with orange wines (white wines made like red wines, allowing contact with grape skins and seeds during fermentation), introducing Villa Soleilla – a luxury-priced (selling for more than $300 a bottle at specialty wine shops in Calgary), skin-contact wine – in 2021 as a ladder brand for the more affordable Orange Gold, a white blend that has appealing apricot and pear flavours, which drives skin-contact white wines into the mainstream.

Bertrand also sees potential in sparkling and white wine, introducing French Cancan, a range of sparkling wines bottled without any added sugar, and La Grande Bleue, a white blend that is made to be refreshing, enjoyable and affordable.

The winemaker says his daughter Emma, who serves as creative director of the family’s estates, is helping to spread the family’s story with younger consumers.

“I think the most important thing for the next generation is to keep the commitment, the passion and the expertise of what we have done over the last 40 years and also create their own path in order to reinvent the future,” he says.

Patience is important in the wine business, he continues. “When you plant a vineyard, it’s not for you. It’s not for your kids. It’s for your grandkids,” he explains. “It’s important to me to keep the vision long-term.”