If you know fine wine, you know Gérard Bertrand. Hailing from the South of France, the globally celebrated winemaker plucks excellence from the vine and seals it by the bottle. With over 40 years of experience in the vineyard and 14 estates located along the rolling hills of the world’s largest wine-producing region, Languedoc-Roussillon, Gérard Bertrand is force to be reckoned with in the winemaking industry. Utilizing biodynamics and holistic farming methods, the Bertrand team delivers high-caliber, authentic products that ignite the palates of wine lovers everywhere.

The Beginning
Gérard Bertrand found that winemaking was in his blood from a tender age. Born to a man who was a wine visionary in his own right, Bertrand was already working in a vineyard at just 10-years-old. The Bertrand name pioneered the early wine scene in southern France. His father, one of the first in the region to barrel wine, helped to shed the region’s stigma of a mass-producing mediocre wine town.

A New Approach
After taking over the family business, Bertrand took winemaking to the next level with environmentally conscious agriculture and a homeopathic approach to farming, including the usage of star and moon charts for optimal planting and harvesting windows. With absolutely no GMO’s, artificial fertilizers, or chemical sprays—and an appreciation for the value brought by patience and accuracy—Gérard Bertrand wines have an authenticity not found elsewhere.

Languedoc
A driving force behind landing the region on the winemaker’s map, Bertrand still cultivates all of his wines exclusively on his home turf. Contrary to popular belief, the first documented case of sparkling wine came about 150 years before the Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon, began producing it from the Champagne region of France. It was the spring of 1531 at the Abbaye de St. Hilaire—nestled between Carcassonne and Limoux in the Languedoc region—when a group of monks discovered that the still wine they’d laid down in the winter was now glistening with bubbles. Using methods developed long before his time, in the true birthplace of sparkling wine, Bertrand produces some of the market’s best bubbly.

Code Rouge, a Crémant de Limoux
An alternative to Champagne that doesn’t compromise quality, Bertrand’s Code Rouge is a sparkling wine made with a blend of Chardonnay, Chenin, and Mauzac. Harvesting the grapes manually and pressing them with a pneumatic press, the juice is fermented at 64-degrees Fahrenheit and aged for a minimum of 36 months. Coming exclusively from the Limoux territory, the Crémant is pale and crystalline in color with fine bubbles. With a bouquet that is floral with notes of pear and fresh citrus fruit, the texture comes off as fresh and mineral on the palate. This wine is best served as an aperitif and pairs well with sushi, fish with cream sauces, goat cheese, or fresh fruit salads with basil.
By Peyton Garcia | Dining Out Content Editor