A review of Gerard Bertrand’s wines

Updated on August 8, 2026.

I got to know Gerard Bertrand’s wines last year at Wein & Co, when this beautiful Viennese wine shop offered long and interesting wine lists every month, along with a producer of the month, which was Gerard Bertrand in that case. Let’s hope that, after the recent difficulties, Wein & Co will recover. At the time, I was very impressed by the Chateau l’Hospitalet Grand Vin La Clape, to the point where I had to place an order directly from the producer.

Gerard Bertrand, the winery (or wineries)

But first of all, who is Gerard Bertrand? This handsome man with a very American story and a distinctly French face.

Bertrand was a professional rugby player who ended his career in 1987, at the age of only 22, following the death of his father, a well-known winemaker in Languedoc. He inherited Domaine de Villemajou, which became one of the many domains in his constellation.

When we talk about Languedoc, we refer to the true “tank” of French wine (the “mechanical” term is not accidental). Historically, the region has focused more on quantity than quality, and even today it alone produces about half of the 24 million hectoliters of wine produced in the United States. Yes, we are talking about a region that produces half of what the United States produces. This has led to an image of table wine without many pretensions.

Yet, as Hugh Johnson states, “where there is so much wine, there are also good prices.” And, as emerged during the years of Gerard Bertrand’s explosion, Languedoc, in addition to quantity, also has significant pockets of quality.

Gerard Bertrand has significantly expanded the family business, acquiring several estates throughout the Languedoc-Roussillon region, including the aforementioned Château l’Hospitalet, Château la Sauvageonne, and Château Aigues-Vives, among others. The company has grown to encompass over 850 hectares of vineyards, producing a wide range of wines, many of which bear Gerard Bertrand’s name on the label.

This “multinational” approach is also evident on the website: a magnificent multilingual shop that would ship wines to Antarctica and features pop-ups that could envy Amazon: “Sign up for the newsletter!”, “Buy two more bottles with a 20% discount!”, “Last-minute offer!”. There is a strong marketing component and no desire to hide it.

But Gerard Bertrand is also a pioneer of biodynamic viticulture in the region. The company began converting its vineyards to biodynamic cultivation in the early 2000s, emphasizing the importance of harmony with nature, soil health, and biodiversity. Currently, a significant portion of its vineyards is certified biodynamic by Demeter and organic by various certifying entities.

Focus has been placed on valorizing native grape varieties, and with good reason. Between Cremant de Limoux, GSM blends (in addition to Carignan), and the rosé tradition (with the famous and expensive Clos du Temple sold at €170), there is a wide range of options. With success, naturally, came the headlines, wine tourism, and criticism.

Essentially, Gerard Bertrand’s operation is contested for its high prices (although personally I found them perfectly justified: perhaps high for Languedoc, but generally appropriate). Also, the industrial size of the enterprise is not liked, where the focus on environmentalism seems to be greenwashing, considering the environmental impact of an operation of this size. Even the rhetoric around biodynamic viticulture has its critics, in my opinion justified.

In short, Gerard Bertrand is a giant. It is up to the buyer to decide whether giants are always bad.

Gerard Bertrand’s wines

But let’s move on to the wines, that’s what we’re here for mainly.

Low price range

1. The An 873 Minervois 2020 by Gérard Bertrand offers an aromatic bouquet of pepper, cherry, leather, and dried flowers. This blend stands out for its lightness and balance, with sandy tannins that leave a pleasant sensation on the lips. Syrah contributes a spicy finish and a beautiful acidity, making the wine honest and well-structured. It is an excellent choice for those looking for an interesting quality-price ratio wine. Price at the time of writing the article in the producer’s shop: €13.
2. The Crémant de Limoux Brut 825 2021 (already commented on in a comparison between two Crèmant de Limoux) is a wine with a golden yellow appearance, with a bouquet revealing notes of vanilla, yogurt, yeast, and croissant, enriched by a subtle rocky component. It has an excellent perlage, fine and light, with good density on the palate and a balance between sweetness and salinity. The body is enriched with notes of apple, pear, and salted caramel, while Chenin brings a slight chalky sensation. The fresh and well-balanced finish makes this wine an excellent choice with, again, a great value for money. Price of this very pleasant and well-made Crémant de Limoux: €16.
3. The Grand Terroir Les Aspres Syrah – Mourvedre – Grenache of 2019 presents itself with a ruby red color and offers an intense bouquet of licorice, blackcurrant, and cloves. This wine stands out for its power and concentration of fruit, with a full and rich palate, characterized by decisive yet velvety tannins and balanced acidity. The finish is long and fresh, with notes of mint and a slightly bitter aftertaste. It is a wine that requires attention and pairs magnificently with robust dishes such as lamb rack, thanks to its structure and complexity. Price: €15.
4. Domaine de Villemajou Corbières Boutenac Red 2021 – Gérard Bertrand | Tasted on 11-12/11/2024 with carne asada, it presents a ruby red color with purple reflections. On the nose, it releases aromas of licorice, undergrowth, and stewed plum with spices, showing the depth typical of great wines from Southern France: rich, generous, and, because slightly introverted, it promises elegance. The palate delivers on that promise but lacks direction. There are many interesting elements: sticky tannins gripping the bottom of the mouth, acidity supporting a slightly excessive alcohol level (those 15° are spelled right, Gérard), notes of blueberry and chocolate on the palate. The finish is unexpectedly sweet, almost like a cherry dipped in spirits. However, there is a sense—perhaps due to a not-so-great fruit concentration—that the wine has a strong beginning and end, but not much connecting the two. The meal itself was unremarkable, but the spiciness of the meat created a fascinating high-tension pairing with the wine. Price: 19 euros.

Medium-low price range

1. The Castellum 2016 presents itself with a ruby red color and a complex bouquet of smoke, blackberries, herbs, and rosemary. Although less dynamic than the Grand Vin La Clape, it offers a variety of remarkable aromatic profiles. On the palate, it is fresh with notes of smoke and berries such as blueberries. The tannins are medium and “pixelated,” and good acidity keeps the wine lively. The finish is dry, with a pleasant mouthfeel given by minty and bitter notes that perfectly close the sip. This wine is surprisingly suitable for tortellini in sauce, enhancing the basic flavors of the dish and adding complexity. Its freshness and richness make it easy to drink yet complex and multidimensional, demonstrating excellent balance. Price: €30.
2. The Castellum Sauvignon Blanc 2022 shows notes of garrigue, deep aromas of warm spices, and toasted hazelnuts. Dense yet vertical, with a bright acidity that leads the sip and then expands decisively in the mouth. The finish reveals dried citrus peels and a hint of licorice that I didn’t enjoy. Very complete. Price: 30 euros.

Medium price range

1. The Grand Vin La Clape Blanc 2021 from Château l’Hospitalet presents itself with a bouquet of garrigue, yellow hawthorn, and stone, initially appearing closed. On the palate, it is reserved but full-bodied, with a savory and perfect finish, although still very introverted. Its reserve in the mouth and deep notes make it a complex and structured wine, which needs time to open up and reveal its full potential. It has character, but not immediate appeal and among Bertrand’s wines that I have tasted, it is the one that impressed me the least. Price: €43.
2. The Grand Vin La Clape Blanc 2022 from Château l’Hospitalet presents a bouquet of garrigue but is denser on the nose than the Castellum, not closed but liquor-like. Warm spices, toasted almonds, and yellow plum. On the palate, it has the elegance of viognier, and its many profiles do not clash but support each other seamlessly. Acidity emerges in the finish. Exceptional—and, considering the previous vintage, I wasn’t expecting it. Price: 40 euros.
   
3. The first time I tasted it, Château l’Hospitalet’s La Clape Grand Vin Rouge 2020 by Gérard Bertrand showed an intense ruby red colour with violet reflections. On the nose, it offered a deep, complex bouquet of bramble, scorched earth, cranberry jam, resin and meat, with countless nuances chasing one another. On the palate, the body was dense yet lively, with clear notes of liquorice interacting with a pronounced spicy streak and a strong acidity. The tannins felt velvety and wrapped the mouth, with hints of wood. The finish was long and complex, with notes of coffee and meat accompanying the wine from start to end. It has great ageing potential thanks to its concentration and acidity, despite the tannins not being especially present.
   
   The same wine, drunk at home, stood out for its intense ruby red colour and a complex nose with notes of rosemary, resin, tobacco and rose. On the palate, it offered a well structured body with good concentration, and retronasally it showed vegetal and blackberry notes. The medium tannins were felt on the gums and the front palate, coming across as grainy. The finish was very bitter, with strong coffee notes and a persistent acidity. It is a savoury wine, almost nervy in the mouth, leaving a searing impression. The combination of blueberries, leather and tertiary wood notes, together with a balsamic resinous character, confirms its remarkable complexity. The body is agile yet substantial, with a long, bitter finish in which the leather returns forcefully, making it exceptional. Paired with stuffed peppers, the Grand Vin Rouge offered an interesting combination of aromatic profiles, in which the sweetness of the dish played against the finish of the wine, almost creating a dessert like evolution. This is certainly the wine that made me fall in love with its producer and, in my view, it is a truly great bottle, even considering the price. Price: 47 euros.
   
   That infatuation, however, did not stop there. It is interesting how this 2020 had so many souls for me: falling in love, stagnation, serenity. The stagnation came with a bottle drunk at home with chicken tikka masala, less charming than I remembered it: technically correct, but weighed down by a softness that took away its dynamism, with more composed tannins and an acidity folded entirely inside the fruit that took the liveliness out of the sip.
   
   This, in short, is the wine that made me fall in love with Gerard Bertrand. And love cannot be decided, and it certainly cannot be forced to last forever, but you can hope that, even at its nadir, the attraction never fades away. That is what happened between me and this wine: first the coup de coeur at the wine shop, then an exceptional bottle at home, then a milder encounter, again at home, and finally an old age romantic love, with the last bottle of its kind. The nose changed over the course of the evening, but it always kept its resinous, pinecone nature: this essential character turned first into mulberry and cassis, then into savoury roasted meat and Mediterranean sage and rosemary, and finally into subtle whiffs of petrichor. The tightly woven body is sustained by a very restrained acidity, the bare minimum required, and the soft, folded tannins, the non committal ones of a blend, ripe yet assertive, are felt across the whole mouth. As said, the body has substance, but time has loosened its tightest knots and it now flows gracefully, carrying forward notes of rotten wood, stewed plums, blackberries and resin. The finish lasts a coherent thirty seconds or so, and while at first you only notice the black pepper, sharp and powerful to the point of exasperation, starting in the mouth and ending on the lips, spiced chocolate emerges later on. Everything is hot, chilli hot, and savoury with real character. This wine is alive, it changes, it evolves, and above all it has aged well in the cellar, becoming composed but never shy: may all our loves follow that same trajectory.
   
4. The La Clape Grand Vin Rouge 2021, on the other hand, shows notes of kirsch, dried plums and dried figs. Indeed, a touch too sweet. Soft, silky body with tannins folded along the sides of the mouth, decisive acidity. Not flabby, but overly evolved, and the structure holds up less than expected. Quite a few steps back compared with the previous vintage. Price: 40 euros.

Gerard Bertrand’s Wines at Mondovino 2025

To the wines already covered, we can add the ones tasted more recently at Mondovino, in 2025, and they come in handy precisely for the “giant” question raised at the start of this article. Mondovino is a fine event, even if by now Wein & Co has fallen behind Pub Klemo as the best wine shop in Vienna, and the very commercial routine of the former grows tiresome over time. Once you step outside the Austrian offering, these are big market wines: bottles with a story or a soul are rare, and at the big trade expo you can tell right away which exhibitors truly believe in that showcase and which do not. Gerard Bertrand’s representatives, in 2025, looked a little subdued: I am fairly certain they did not have well kept bottles, because both tastings caught me off guard, in a bad way.

The Aigle Impérial Crémant de Limoux Brut Nature 2015, at the stated price, left me puzzled: it felt more like a Cava, with that old attic note typical of Xarel·lo, a sad mousse and served far too cold. The Castellum Sauvignon Blanc 2023 came across as very herbaceous, also served far too cold, medium bodied. Once you account for this storage issue, I do not think these two experiences should factor into the final opinion on the winery.

The Languedoc Cabrières Clos du Temple 2022 is a different matter: the estate’s flagship rosé, now selling for around 200 euros (up from the 170€ mentioned at the start of this article). It is a composed, restrained rosé, with a delicate hint of cinnamon on the back palate, a nose of linden blossom and spiced apple, and a sweetness handled with precision. Body and weight are there, without excess. But, again, at that price…

In Conclusion: What Are Gerard Bertrand’s Wines, Really?

Gerard Bertrand’s wines are controversial ontologically, but not in terms of quality. They are wines with an always fair value for money, at least in the mid range, and well made (the Clos du Temple is a case apart, but it falls under the same doubt that this mega operation carries with it). So, if the chance to drink them comes up, why not? You will not walk away unsatisfied.

The question, rather, is what you are actually buying, who these wines really are. Natural products that, thanks to the owner’s shrewdness, have won market share worthy of a wine multinational? Or a business first and foremost, where the natural angle only serves the sales pitch? And this “natural” side, certainly carried out in the vineyard, pushes us to ask whether a company can call itself “natural” when it spends truckloads of money building a cellar devoted to a rosé worth hundreds of euros, following an architecture dictated by the owner’s various occult leanings. Are we, essentially, talking about Osho’s wines?

Reading Margaret Rand’s fine, unsettling interview with Gerard Bertrand, I formed an opinion on the substance of the operation. But the wines, as said, are often a genuine pleasure to drink, and they are also the one thing I can vouch for without hesitation. So, if the right deal comes along, I will happily drink another bottle of the splendid Château l’Hospitalet Grand Vin La Clape.

Gérard Bertrand has the virtue of offering wines that match their price point; Farinetti’s wineries don’t always do so, but Borgogno’s Timorasso Derthona is a fine wine, correctly priced. Another major producer that sells wines at the right price is Donnafugata. To dig deeper into the Languedoc, here is our article on the Terrasses du Larzac.