May 14, 2025 • 41 mins
A committed oenologist and ambassador of the great terroirs of the South of France, Gérard Bertrand embodies excellence and innovation in the world of wine. Heir to a lineage of wine growers, he harvested his first grapes at Château de Villemajou and forged a unique vision, combining respect for tradition with the quest for modernity. A former rugby player, he brings to his estates the values of performance and self-improvement that he learnt on the field. A pioneer of biodynamics, he has established himself as a leader in sustainable wine, enhancing exceptional terroirs through viticulture that respects nature and the cycles of life. He tells us: "From our sunny lands in the south of France, we cultivate excellence, sustainable commitment and passion for wine, to transmit the Art de Vivre in every bottle."
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack. Usay listen to the passion with
which producers narrate their winery and their world. In thirty
answers discover their stories, personalities and passions.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hello, friends and listeners of wine soundtrack. This is Alson
Levine and today I have the pleasure of sitting with
Gerard Bertrand from Gerard Bertrande Wines from the South of France. Gerard,
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack. Tell us a little bit about
your eponymous wine brand.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Yeah, you know myself, I grew up in the south
of France and I start my journey in the wine
industry many years ago because of.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
His shal thirty eight years ago.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
But I have done my first vintage with my father
when I was ten years old in nineteen seventy five.
And I'm focused on the wine from this region. I
really enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
And so now when we talk about this region, you're
in the Languadoc region and you have how many different properties?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I owned seventeen estates than me, And you know, I
spend thirty of my life like green Go, traveling in
different places just to to discover a new tailwar and
to and to promote different experience with different grape variety
and different climate as well.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
And so what are some of the different grape varieties
that you're working with.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Oh, you know, in the source of France, we have
seventy gray varieties. Myself, I use more than thirty of them.
And I enjoyed to play between local grapes like grenache, Sira,
Carrinan or Morveda and international grapes like you know, Merlot, Cavernet, Sauvignon, Chardon,
(01:43):
And I mean every day it's a new experience with
us in this beautiful region.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
And so with the seventeen different estates, and they're all
in the south of France, you have all the grapes
planted in the different vineyards. So it's really about what
terrooir gives you.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yes, you know, terroir is really the war world. You know.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
My passion is to reveal, to unveil the sense of place.
And the was a game changer when I start to
use biodynamic principle now twenty five years ago and now
we are the leader in the world and we have
twenty twenty five undred acres turned to bio dynamic principle.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Twenty five hundred acres that's showing people that you can
do it at scale that is large. So with the
twenty five hundred acres, you know, what's your total case production.
They're all under the name George bertrand right, not enough,
not enough, And your wines are available all around the
world in all markets.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yes, we promote the brand in one hundred and seventy
five country and we are very happy because we are
we are a global brand and this is very exciting
for us to to match with a different kind of
food the world.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
This is a great experience. Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And so you said that you worked your first harvest
with your father when you were ten years old. What
is your first memory relevant to wine. Was it working
that harvest or is there another memory that stands out?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
You know, my first memory was when I start to
taste wine with my father in his state at the
beginning of my journey at Chateauville Majoux, and he teached
me and every Wednesday, and I explained that in my
book Muti Dimensional Wine. Every Wednesday, he invited me to
(03:37):
participate for the tasting from noon to one and it
was the beginning of my excitement because first I was
excited by the way he spit the wine into the speedo,
and you know, and it was important for me to
be relevant and to do the same. And then of
(03:58):
course you after you, I start to develop my skills.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
So in all the years you've been making wine, drinking wine,
traveling the world, is there I mean, I know this
is going to be a loaded question because I'm sure
you have drunk so many incredible wines. But is there
a particular wine that stands out as one of the
most memorable wines you've ever drunk? And what was that?
What was the occasion?
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Oh, you know, I have many friends in the wine industry,
and also I really enjoy to taste wine from all
over the world. Of course I have some of my favorites.
Of course, you know, it's always a pleasure because I
am a fan of pino noir. To taste the wine
of my friends Alberto Villian, of course, from Domain l'
(04:46):
romane contij and Charbossi and Domain Feverly, and then of
course for for some of the wine in other countries.
I love Vegas, Sicilia, Sassika. Yeah, you know, I like
also tin and yellow. By the way, this is one
of the favorite one of my daughter Emma and then
of course, you know I like Sylvignngri from Chile. You know,
(05:09):
what can I say? Of course I like Sauvignon Blant
from New Zealand as well. The need I am very
versatile and independent about my mood and the people.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
I am the wiz.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
So I mean obviously when I say memorable wine, when
you name name brands like that, hard to pick one
favorite out of all of them. Those are some great
wines from around the world. With the seventeen estates you
have and all the wines you make. If we came
into your home, would we find these wines from around
the world in there as a lot of your own wine?
You say you're a versatile drinker, But what would we
(05:42):
find in your home?
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (05:45):
You know, we have a tradition is that every Sunday
for lunch, I always open a bottle of a wine
coming from all over the world, including one of my wine,
and we enjoy to play with these wine. But it's
a blind tasting and I like to surprise my family
(06:05):
and we do that for at least thirty years now.
I mean, this is like, you know, a special occasion
for sharing new tastes and new grapes. Because in the
world we have fifteen hundred's grape variety for doing wine,
I mean people less than ten, and it's challenged for me.
(06:29):
And maybe I've tasted already close to one thousand different
grape varieges from all over the world, and I want
to continue to develop my palate and to keep my
memoryal life with this special occasion.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
It's a lot to keep track of in your mind,
with all those grapes and all those varieties and all
those wines. So of your wines, is there something you
opened up recently that drank really well?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Oh? Yes, you know, I really enjoy.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
To merquis from care and amusing Malbec two weeks ago,
and you know, and I like it. And also it
was like a benchmark for me because we will launch
a new Malbek in our new state in Coo in
twenty twenty seven, and I like to taste cal from
(07:21):
and also malbek from all over the world, just to
benchmark what we are doing us.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
And I've got a mailback coming. So do you think
with all the different grapes you've tasted a thousand different varieties?
You said you're growing a lot of grapes, thirty different
varieties and I know a lot of the wines that
you do are blends, because that's very typical in the
South of France. Do you think there's such thing as
a perfect variety?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
No, you know, in the world of wine, you can
try to find the perfect balance, and this is the game.
But you cannot find the perfect wine because perfection doesn't exist.
But when you find the perfect balance, when you do
a blend between the same grape variety in different plots,
(08:11):
or between different gray variety, it's always a challenge. And
you know, and this is really my passion making blends.
I can spend hundreds of hours per month for trying
to find the perfect balance with a different wine that
we are doing.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
So as a wine drinker, getting down to it, as
a consumer, do you have a preference red witer rose, No.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I like all of them, including orange wine and sparkling.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yes. And you know, and I really enjoy.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Diversity because I am really, you know, somebody taking care
of the planet and I want to to reinforce the
beauty diversity. And we are lucky in the wine industry
because we have an amusing diversity of grape taste and
their work, and we have to preserve it, and we
(09:12):
have to take care of this biodiversity.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
So when you're focused as on biodiversity and we know
that there's so much versatility in the world of wine,
what's your opinion of wine critics and scores. Where do
they play a place in that and are they beneficial
or more of a hindrance do you think?
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Oh, I am very happy to see what the critique
of wine have done over the last forty years, because
at the end, of course, nobody has an universal, universal palette.
But Robert Parker give the possibility to all the others
(09:56):
to become famous, to become famous, and as well to
start to taste one two one per week and to.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Excite when lovers.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Of course, myself, you know, when I drink a glass
of wine, I don't want to know.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
What is rating, because you know, at the.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
End, the most important thing for me is to try
to find and to go to the emotional level. If
I feel a pleasure is good, if I feel the
taste is better. But if I feel emotion I become
very happy. And sometimes I receive the message from the
(10:40):
winemaker or from the terror and there this is you know,
even me, this is very rare, but an amusing moment.
I want to share with my best friends.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Well, a lot of sharing wine is around the meal.
So how do you approach food and wine pairing? I mean,
obviously being in the south of France with your cuisine
being by the sea, the freshness of your wine, the
acidity of your wines, the minerality of your wines goes
great without the seafood. It's almost a given and you
don't have to think very hard. But how do you
(11:14):
approach food and wine pairing when you're traveling around the
world with all the different cuisines.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
I am really a fan of food and wine pairing,
and that's why.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Also at Chato Los Pitally, which is a five star
wine resort nearby the ocean in Urbane, we have three restaurants.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
We have a one.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Mischeon and star restaurant with a chef Lauren Schabet. We
have a bistro and we have also beach club. I mean,
I like to try different tastes and we create a
concept called the vertical cooking without fat and butter in
order to try.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
To lift the food like we do it.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
With wine and to find the verticality in the food.
But at the end, you know, I am really a
fan of the funk kind of cuisine. In terms of priority,
of course number one is frants because we are twenty
thousand recipe since mister Escofi. And then Chinese cuisine. I
(12:15):
really love Chinese cuisine. And I am really a fan
of duck with a crust on the skin. And then
of course I have a passional so for the Japanese cuisine.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Well, with that duck with the crispy skin, what would
you pair with that canaraake?
Speaker 4 (12:34):
You know?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
But with this I we'll love a chateaus pitally, chatellas
pitally because we have limestone and you know, and this
is the when on the edge is never overripe. It's
always on tension and is very good. And then also
I like the cuisine from Africa. I like Taijin. I
(12:54):
love couscous, you know, I love many kinds of spicy
food as well. Is good because now we just launch
orange wines like Orange Gold or Villa Solia, which has
been elected as the best orange wine in the world
in Paris two months ago, and it's orange wine are
(13:14):
very versatile. I mean now you see more and more
in the war people choosing family style. That means they
share the different dishes and with orange wine, you really
really enjoy this kind of mix.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I love that and I can almost imagine just the
versatility of the wines that you make, how they'll go
with the spices of African dishes and the freshness of
Japanese seafood, and just they're very versatile wines. So for
somebody who has not had the pleasure of tasting a
joy but trond wine, yet, what do you think they're
(13:51):
missing out on?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
First they have to read my book multi Dimensional Wine,
because after this book they will know more about me.
And if they feel happy, they can read the two
other books I have already written, like Wine, Moon and
Star and then not You're at Heart, And after that
they will go. They will know how to go and
(14:14):
to navigate into my wine world.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
So, if space aliens were to land on your property,
chateau hospitally, what of your which of your wines would
you want to welcome them with? To say welcome to
Joel buttran.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Oh, you know every were commanded chateaus pitally white because it's.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Made with local grapes like barbo.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
And Ermantino grenache brown and a touch of Uni and
it's very good to open your mouth for you know,
lunch or dinner. But also I really enjoy sparkling from
Limou and we just launch Egg Imperial nine years on Lis.
(15:01):
This is a vintage twenty fifteen and this is really
the grand crew of sparkling in the Sours of Fonts.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah. Well, you know there's no shortage of good offerings
if they were to land at your property. So you
started doing biodynamic farming and following those principles twenty five
years ago. We know that every vintage tells a different story.
In the South of France where you are, do you
see a lot of variation from year to year? Do
(15:31):
you see more commonality? What do you see? What does
vintage tell you in a region like south of France.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
You know, every every region, especially in France, you know,
as they own vintages and mean the footprint of the
vintage are always different because of the weather condition, because
also of the date of.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
You know, of.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Blooming, when its start to open the vines, and then
you know the vegetative cycle makes the difference, and then
the date of harvest is always different. In the South
of the tradition is to start the harvest end of
August and to finish mid of October. I mean it's
(16:28):
a window of forty five fifty days. And depending the
gray variety, the terror, the altitude, and also depending the
weather condition during the harvest, it's always different. Of course,
we want to keep the same character of the terroir,
(16:49):
but every vintage develop is on footprint.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Are there any sort of signs or predictors that you
look for that will tell you what a harvest is
going to be?
Speaker 3 (17:03):
You know, during the harvest, I do not travel, and
from the fifteenth of August to the fifteenth of October,
I walk every single day, seven days a week with
my team in a vineyard. We do ten to fifteen
miles per day, tasting grapes, tasting the pips, and after
(17:24):
five ten days I start to feel connected with the
spirit of the vintage, and then there's the best way
to take the best decision. That means, of course, you
can control the maturity of the berries with some analysis,
but the most important thing is what's happening to your mouth.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
And when you feel you.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Know the taste of the berries, the taste of the peep,
as well as when you see you know the vineyard,
you know the leaves and what is going on in
a different plots. You start to capture deescence of what
will happen in this vintage wonderful.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
So you spend all this time walking in the vineyards,
seventeen different properties, ten to fifteen miles a day on foot.
I know you're working with other people, but do you
have a tendency to have any communication with your vines?
Do you talk to them, yell at them? Do they
talk to you?
Speaker 3 (18:28):
You know, No, I don't talk to them. I just
feel the connection with with a nature with the vines.
And also I observe the soil. I can touch the soil,
I touch the vines, and I capture hundreds and thousands
(18:49):
of information, and all these information will be back to
me when I start the blending process. I mean, you
cannot find the perfect balance if you don't remember what's
happened in each different plots during the houvest.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
It's a lot of information to maintain, a lot of memory,
to keep your mind going, to remember each plot, and
to know when you're tasting wine later to remember. I'm
impressed a lot of retention.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
One thousand and one details. This is what my father
teach me.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Detail is important. So for your with the traditions, with
all the time you've been making wine, do you have
any sort of good luck rituals that you and your
team do or you as a as just an individual
do at the start of harvest or during harvest.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
You know, we have some ceremonials that mean, you know,
the first day of the beginning of the harvest, we do.
We do lunch and we and we raise the glass
and we celebrate the new vintage. And it's not like
(20:11):
to pray, but it's a kind of spiritual communion between
all of us to say, okay, let's go for a
great vintage.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
So moving away from wine for a second, but maybe not.
Did you always know that this is what you want
to do? Or when you were a little boy, what
did you want to be when you grew up?
Speaker 4 (20:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
You know, because I am raised and born in a vineyard,
you know, and I start to make my first hours
first when I turned ten years old with my father George,
you know, and because it teached me and coached me
for twelve years before he passed away in nineteen eighty seven,
I knew that.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
I have a passion for that.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
And of course in the same time, I was very
passionate about rib because I was an athlete and I
play at the top.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Level rugby four ten years.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
I won three times the French Cup, and I play
for my country and really enjoy it. But you know,
I did both because at this time, even if I
played the top level, rigby was not professional and I
managed in the same time my rugby career and I
took over the family estate when my father passed away,
(21:27):
and when I was only twenty two. I mean, he
was a challenge, but I had taken the decision to
do both, and until turn thirty, this is what I
have done.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
And then when I stopped to play rugby, I was
focused one and person.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
To my company and we moved from three people in
the company to more than five hundred now. I mean,
he was a long journey and it was important for
me to keep the vision because people say, oh, yeah,
Jerarberkrai is very successful, and that's true now, but it
took me really twenty five years to take off. I mean,
(22:07):
nothing happen overnight. And when you keep the vision high,
when you have the right strategy, when you have a
great team with you, you know you go over the problems
and then finally one day you start to feel the
recognition of the markets. And I feel proud of that
(22:30):
because he was he was a long journey and sometime
about it.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah, so you've dedicated your life to this and with
seventeen properties and selling wine around the world and writing
three books. I don't think you have a lot of
free time. But when you have free time, what do
you like to do?
Speaker 4 (22:51):
Nothing?
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Just go to the beach.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Yeah, I lay down on the beach and I seep
a glass of the god there rose sometimes or gribla,
and I relax. But you know, at the end, after
three days, I want to do something. And of course
I like now I love to play tennis, and I
play tennis and sometimes.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
I dream about tennis.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I'm crazy, And yeah, I like to play tennis with
my wife or my son or my daughter. But and
what I like to do is to dream as well,
because when you do nothings, you start to dream. And
it's very important to have dreams, you know, because sometimes
dreams come true, and if it doesn't, it's not a
(23:40):
big problem. But I like to dream because you know,
I like to to think.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
About the universe.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
You know, can you imagine that we we have in
the universe billion of billions of galaxy and billion of billions.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Bi planets, and.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
That's why, you know, he creates a new paradigm for
human being based on the paradigm of love and not
anymore on the paradom of fear, because at the end
there is no reason to be afraid about what is
going on, because at the end you have to look
at the star and you feel better. And I like
(24:24):
to do that because in the South of Fronce we
have amusing, you know sky, especially because as we have
some wind, the sky is without any clouds and I
like it. That's why, you know, is a good like
meditation process. I lay down on my garden and I
(24:44):
look at the sky and I feel happy.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
So you don't play rugby anymore, But do you have
a favorite team?
Speaker 3 (24:55):
Oh yeah, of course, because you know, I am one
of the more most important shareholder of my team where
I play for seventeen years, Narbourne Narbourne. Now we play
in third division and maybe we will move up to
second division soon. And also I really enjoy to support
(25:17):
the team where I started to play, Korbia fifteen, because
this is where my uncle and my father were involved
in this club for many years, and twenty of the
players of this local club work for my company. I mean,
it's very important for me and.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
For my heart.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I love that. So if your team Narbourne was to
win the championship, and it sounds like they're winners since
they might move up a level, which of your lines
would you want to toast them with and celebrate many
of them?
Speaker 3 (25:54):
You know, because the rugby players are very often one
drinkers and you know. And I cannot say everything, but
we have done many parties and it's part or so
of my life. When people ask me what your job,
I say, you have two job. My first job is
(26:14):
to be a one grower and my second one sometimes
is to be a party maker. That's why we do
a jazz festival in the south of France. One of
the most exciting.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Jazz festival at Chatoospitaly.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Always mid of July and we lost nine thousand people
in five nights and we celebrate every single minute.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
I had the pleasure to attend the jazz festival, oh,
probably almost ten years ago, a while ago.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
You should you should be back.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I would love to. It was wonderful. Visited a few
of your properties, and at that point you didn't have seventeen,
but you were just opening up one or two new ones.
I think, wow, I mean it's grown exponentially. But tell
me something you've talked about. You've given a lot of
insight about your philosophy and you know things that your
father told you. Is there one piece of advice that has,
(27:11):
you know, kind of stuck with you that maybe your
father gave you or that you've learned along the way,
aside from one thousand and one details.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
You know, my father was a pioneer, and when you
are a pioneer, it's difficult because people doesn't want to
believe in you. Sometimes doesn't want to think that what
you are doing is possible and achievable. And if fight
against the people because he was twenty in advance.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Compare to the others.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
And myself, you know, I just want to tell the
people that never never, you lose your dreams and also.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
Never give up.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
That mean, when you plant a vineyard, it's not for you,
it's not for your kids, it's for your grandkids. That means,
you know, the the vision is between thirty to forty
years and this is a journey. That means you know,
you have to shoot for the stars and then to
(28:18):
go a little further.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
So you have to look forward and you may not
get the instant gratification, but you're planning for the future.
But that said, when you look back at your career
so far, what would you say is one of your
proudest achievements to date?
Speaker 3 (28:39):
I think the most important thing, not for me, but
for the people who work with me and for the
wee lovers is to have put the South of France
in the map in the world of when I mean
now languadogs, South of France Israeli a destination and you
(29:05):
can go everywhere in the world. Now you go in
the restaurant, you go in the retail, you can find
some South of France wine in the list. And it
didn't exist forty years ago. That means it took it
took time to make it happen, to convince people at
(29:26):
the distributory level, at the retail level, at the restaurant level,
you know, to join us and to share the DNA
of the South of France with their community of consumer
and wine.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Lovers love that.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
So if you're planning a romantic evening for you and
your wife, what sort of wines do you open?
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Well, I cannot reveal to use my cap secrets anything
in particularly you start with, does you know I had
a joke because you know for the great vintage, I say,
is because my wife dans naked with me on the
under the vats. But is a joke yet? But no,
(30:13):
I think you know it depends. But when the when
the sun at the end of the day, for the sunset,
you know, I really enjoy to look at the sun
because the intensity of the light is not too strong.
(30:35):
And when you can look at the sun, you feel
happy because you discover that the sun is the reason
why we are alive, because without sun, no more humanity
and no more parse you know. And that's why you
know when you think of that, if I open the
(31:00):
all of Villa Sola, which is an orange wine, and
if I look at the color of Villa Soliah, I
can look the color and at the same time I
see the same color in the in the sun at
the end of the day, and I feel connected with
the wine and with and with the universes. I mean,
(31:22):
this is this is very interesting because when you share
that with your you know, with your with your wife,
or with your company or you know you you feel
connected and you understand why. Also whine is unique because
(31:45):
whine it's it's a single beverage which deliver the sense
of place. And because we use also biodynamic principle, we
reent for the connection between the planets, the moon, the
(32:06):
sun with ears. I mean we are in the middle,
but we are the reason why everything happened.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
I love that so complete this sentence. For me, a
table without wine is.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
Like, you know, it's like losing time.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
So I want you to imagine a scenario. You've talked
about how wine is something you can connect with and
when you're sharing with their people, you're connecting. If you
have a bottle of wine at the table and there's
an empty seat next to you, who, from any walk
of life, living or disease, would you love to share
a bottle of jard Bertron wine with who? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (32:56):
You know, I think.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
You'll probably tell me you've already shared it with so
many amazing people.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
No, now we share how we share? If I have
an empty seat with the guy the workers would do
the prunning from December to March, with the wind, with
the cold weather, with humility alone, working hard, even hour
per day, because these people are the reason why the
(33:24):
quality is there. I mean, without them, you know, no
more quality in the bottle. I mean we pay attention
for that. That's why we celebrate the pruning and we
do a festival pruning in.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
Order to.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Pay a tribute for these people because they have a
passion for what they are doing.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
So with the biodynamic principles that you follow, and obviously
you're talking about how a vineyard is for many generations.
Thirty forty years, with climate change and everything, you think
will still be drinking wine and three hundred years, five
hundred years.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Five hundred years, I don't know, but in the next
fifty year for sure, because we are producing wine for
eight thousand years, starting in Georgia and then the Egyptians
and then the Greek provide us twenty four century ago,
(34:24):
some indigenous grape in the south of France. They arrive
in Harbourne Beach with the chips on the boat at
this time, sorry, with and with grave huges, and then
the Roman develop you know, the vineyard in the south
of France. Mean, this is a very strong legacy and
(34:47):
these people they have also seen many changes with the
climate over the last thousand years a med and always optimistic.
Of course, we have some issue now, but everywhere in
the world. That's why, you know. We are working to
(35:10):
use more local grapes, more indigenous grapes, you know, and
we do some crossing as well to be more resistant
for the heat, for the dryness, and this is an
ongoing process.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
I love it. I've got We're coming to the end,
and I have a couple quick questions for you.
Speaker 4 (35:33):
Quick ish.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
One is if if you were going to outer space
or a deserted island or anything, and you can only
take three bottles with you, what three wines would you take?
Speaker 4 (35:45):
We take.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
A single vineyard Cola Forge because it's a tribute to
my father. It's one twenty five years old, Carrinean with
a very old CRR.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
How we take deers Lash because.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Because dimensional wine. And then I will close my eyes
and we take a bottle in my sala without knowing
what it is in order to have a surprise.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
And we always play a little game to kind of
round out the end of this podcast. It's called wine soundtrack.
So music. You do a jazz festival, so music obviously
plays a role in what you do. And you understand
the sort of magic maybe of the combination of wine
and music that they both create emotions in us. So
I would love based on some of the wines that
(36:40):
you've talked about today, I'm going to name of wine
and you tell me a genre, a song, a musician
that you would correlate to it. You can be as
specific as you want or not, but let's start with
the Limoux sparkling wine.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Limou sparkling, I will say, Norah, John's okay.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
What about the white wine that you mentioned that had
Burblanc and Vermentino and little Vigne, I would.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
Say Uribon Avantura is the king of salsa.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
He's good at this, yes, And what about the Chatelast.
But hospital the signature wine that you would the red wine.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
I would say it's my life John bon Jovi, because
he's my friend and because I love his music.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Oh, we could keep going, but I'm gonna do one
more wine. The wine that you made in honor of
your father.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
Why you know, I know my father with La Forge
because he was my hero. He was also.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
You know, my source of inspiration for rugby and wine,
and also because you know he walked out with my
mother to give us a chance to have a future.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
And so what song or musician would you pair with
that wine?
Speaker 4 (38:10):
We'll have some Grigorian music.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Okay, well, Gerard, we have come to the end of
the conversation. But I do have a final question for you,
which is, if somebody were to want to visit you
and taste your wines, where can they find you and
what kind of experiences can they have. I know you
said that you have a hotel at one of your properties,
(38:35):
you have Michelin star restaurants. Tell us just a little
bit about where we can find you and what we
can experience.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
Of course, you know we have one of the best
destinations in the one industry because we have a forty
one suite facing the ocean in the south of France,
and we will open also in May. You know, Chateau
La sau Vajean. It's a Nico Nique state in the
Terasu Lasak and we will open a seven star you know,
(39:05):
destination with five rooms. Yeah, sky sky is a limit
with us, and it will be one of the most
exciting destinations as well.
Speaker 4 (39:17):
In the source of that.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Wow, So you have accommodations, you have restaurants, and people
can just come and taste at your property as well.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Yeah, yeah, of course we have a nice sellar and
you know you can taste for free.
Speaker 4 (39:29):
That means you can taste all the one that you want.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
And we have also, you know, the possibility to to
bring people with us in the vineyard and to also
to lay down in the beach club because of the
beach club will open the first of May and it
will open until the end of September. And this is
(39:52):
also really what I like to go because even if
I stay on this one hour there, I feel like
if I was in.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Holiday, I've been to your beach beach club for lunch,
and you are the mayor of the town. You are
definitely the mayor of south southern France. If there is
one place in the world on your bucket list to
go travel, is there anywhere you haven't been that you
want to go?
Speaker 3 (40:21):
Yeah, many places, you know. I am a global traveler.
I mean I was lucky enough to see beautiful places.
But I think I want to go in Costa Rica
because this is a this is a kingdom of Natcho.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Well, you go take a vacation in Costa Rica and
everyone else needs to hop on a plane to the
south of France to go explore yard Bertron Wnes Greed.
Thank you for joining us today and let's go have
a glass of wine.
Speaker 4 (40:51):
Thank you, pleas raise a glass.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Thanks for listening to a new episode of Wine Soundtrack USA.
For details and updates, visit our website winds down at dotcom.
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack. Usay listen to the passion with
which producers narrate their winery and their world. In thirty
answers discover their stories, personalities and passions.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hello, friends and listeners of wine soundtrack. This is Alson
Levine and today I have the pleasure of sitting with
Gerard Bertrand from Gerard Bertrande Wines from the South of France. Gerard,
Welcome to Wine Soundtrack. Tell us a little bit about
your eponymous wine brand.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Yeah, you know myself, I grew up in the south
of France and I start my journey in the wine
industry many years ago because of.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
His shal thirty eight years ago.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
But I have done my first vintage with my father
when I was ten years old in nineteen seventy five.
And I'm focused on the wine from this region. I
really enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
And so now when we talk about this region, you're
in the Languadoc region and you have how many different properties?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I owned seventeen estates than me, And you know, I
spend thirty of my life like green Go, traveling in
different places just to to discover a new tailwar and
to and to promote different experience with different grape variety
and different climate as well.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
And so what are some of the different grape varieties
that you're working with.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Oh, you know, in the source of France, we have
seventy gray varieties. Myself, I use more than thirty of them.
And I enjoyed to play between local grapes like grenache, Sira,
Carrinan or Morveda and international grapes like you know, Merlot, Cavernet, Sauvignon, Chardon,
(01:43):
And I mean every day it's a new experience with
us in this beautiful region.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
And so with the seventeen different estates, and they're all
in the south of France, you have all the grapes
planted in the different vineyards. So it's really about what
terrooir gives you.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yes, you know, terroir is really the war world. You know.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
My passion is to reveal, to unveil the sense of place.
And the was a game changer when I start to
use biodynamic principle now twenty five years ago and now
we are the leader in the world and we have
twenty twenty five undred acres turned to bio dynamic principle.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Twenty five hundred acres that's showing people that you can
do it at scale that is large. So with the
twenty five hundred acres, you know, what's your total case production.
They're all under the name George bertrand right, not enough,
not enough, And your wines are available all around the
world in all markets.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yes, we promote the brand in one hundred and seventy
five country and we are very happy because we are
we are a global brand and this is very exciting
for us to to match with a different kind of
food the world.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
This is a great experience. Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
And so you said that you worked your first harvest
with your father when you were ten years old. What
is your first memory relevant to wine. Was it working
that harvest or is there another memory that stands out?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
You know, my first memory was when I start to
taste wine with my father in his state at the
beginning of my journey at Chateauville Majoux, and he teached
me and every Wednesday, and I explained that in my
book Muti Dimensional Wine. Every Wednesday, he invited me to
(03:37):
participate for the tasting from noon to one and it
was the beginning of my excitement because first I was
excited by the way he spit the wine into the speedo,
and you know, and it was important for me to
be relevant and to do the same. And then of
(03:58):
course you after you, I start to develop my skills.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
So in all the years you've been making wine, drinking wine,
traveling the world, is there I mean, I know this
is going to be a loaded question because I'm sure
you have drunk so many incredible wines. But is there
a particular wine that stands out as one of the
most memorable wines you've ever drunk? And what was that?
What was the occasion?
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Oh, you know, I have many friends in the wine industry,
and also I really enjoy to taste wine from all
over the world. Of course I have some of my favorites.
Of course, you know, it's always a pleasure because I
am a fan of pino noir. To taste the wine
of my friends Alberto Villian, of course, from Domain l'
(04:46):
romane contij and Charbossi and Domain Feverly, and then of
course for for some of the wine in other countries.
I love Vegas, Sicilia, Sassika. Yeah, you know, I like
also tin and yellow. By the way, this is one
of the favorite one of my daughter Emma and then
of course, you know I like Sylvignngri from Chile. You know,
(05:09):
what can I say? Of course I like Sauvignon Blant
from New Zealand as well. The need I am very
versatile and independent about my mood and the people.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
I am the wiz.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
So I mean obviously when I say memorable wine, when
you name name brands like that, hard to pick one
favorite out of all of them. Those are some great
wines from around the world. With the seventeen estates you
have and all the wines you make. If we came
into your home, would we find these wines from around
the world in there as a lot of your own wine?
You say you're a versatile drinker, But what would we
(05:42):
find in your home?
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (05:45):
You know, we have a tradition is that every Sunday
for lunch, I always open a bottle of a wine
coming from all over the world, including one of my wine,
and we enjoy to play with these wine. But it's
a blind tasting and I like to surprise my family
(06:05):
and we do that for at least thirty years now.
I mean, this is like, you know, a special occasion
for sharing new tastes and new grapes. Because in the
world we have fifteen hundred's grape variety for doing wine,
I mean people less than ten, and it's challenged for me.
(06:29):
And maybe I've tasted already close to one thousand different
grape varieges from all over the world, and I want
to continue to develop my palate and to keep my
memoryal life with this special occasion.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
It's a lot to keep track of in your mind,
with all those grapes and all those varieties and all
those wines. So of your wines, is there something you
opened up recently that drank really well?
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Oh? Yes, you know, I really enjoy.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
To merquis from care and amusing Malbec two weeks ago,
and you know, and I like it. And also it
was like a benchmark for me because we will launch
a new Malbek in our new state in Coo in
twenty twenty seven, and I like to taste cal from
(07:21):
and also malbek from all over the world, just to
benchmark what we are doing us.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
And I've got a mailback coming. So do you think
with all the different grapes you've tasted a thousand different varieties?
You said you're growing a lot of grapes, thirty different
varieties and I know a lot of the wines that
you do are blends, because that's very typical in the
South of France. Do you think there's such thing as
a perfect variety?
Speaker 3 (07:49):
No, you know, in the world of wine, you can
try to find the perfect balance, and this is the game.
But you cannot find the perfect wine because perfection doesn't exist.
But when you find the perfect balance, when you do
a blend between the same grape variety in different plots,
(08:11):
or between different gray variety, it's always a challenge. And
you know, and this is really my passion making blends.
I can spend hundreds of hours per month for trying
to find the perfect balance with a different wine that
we are doing.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
So as a wine drinker, getting down to it, as
a consumer, do you have a preference red witer rose, No.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I like all of them, including orange wine and sparkling.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yes. And you know, and I really enjoy.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Diversity because I am really, you know, somebody taking care
of the planet and I want to to reinforce the
beauty diversity. And we are lucky in the wine industry
because we have an amusing diversity of grape taste and
their work, and we have to preserve it, and we
(09:12):
have to take care of this biodiversity.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
So when you're focused as on biodiversity and we know
that there's so much versatility in the world of wine,
what's your opinion of wine critics and scores. Where do
they play a place in that and are they beneficial
or more of a hindrance do you think?
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Oh, I am very happy to see what the critique
of wine have done over the last forty years, because
at the end, of course, nobody has an universal, universal palette.
But Robert Parker give the possibility to all the others
(09:56):
to become famous, to become famous, and as well to
start to taste one two one per week and to.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Excite when lovers.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Of course, myself, you know, when I drink a glass
of wine, I don't want to know.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
What is rating, because you know, at the.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
End, the most important thing for me is to try
to find and to go to the emotional level. If
I feel a pleasure is good, if I feel the
taste is better. But if I feel emotion I become
very happy. And sometimes I receive the message from the
(10:40):
winemaker or from the terror and there this is you know,
even me, this is very rare, but an amusing moment.
I want to share with my best friends.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Well, a lot of sharing wine is around the meal.
So how do you approach food and wine pairing? I mean,
obviously being in the south of France with your cuisine
being by the sea, the freshness of your wine, the
acidity of your wines, the minerality of your wines goes
great without the seafood. It's almost a given and you
don't have to think very hard. But how do you
(11:14):
approach food and wine pairing when you're traveling around the
world with all the different cuisines.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
I am really a fan of food and wine pairing,
and that's why.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Also at Chato Los Pitally, which is a five star
wine resort nearby the ocean in Urbane, we have three restaurants.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
We have a one.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Mischeon and star restaurant with a chef Lauren Schabet. We
have a bistro and we have also beach club. I mean,
I like to try different tastes and we create a
concept called the vertical cooking without fat and butter in
order to try.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
To lift the food like we do it.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
With wine and to find the verticality in the food.
But at the end, you know, I am really a
fan of the funk kind of cuisine. In terms of priority,
of course number one is frants because we are twenty
thousand recipe since mister Escofi. And then Chinese cuisine. I
(12:15):
really love Chinese cuisine. And I am really a fan
of duck with a crust on the skin. And then
of course I have a passional so for the Japanese cuisine.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Well, with that duck with the crispy skin, what would
you pair with that canaraake?
Speaker 4 (12:34):
You know?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
But with this I we'll love a chateaus pitally, chatellas
pitally because we have limestone and you know, and this
is the when on the edge is never overripe. It's
always on tension and is very good. And then also
I like the cuisine from Africa. I like Taijin. I
(12:54):
love couscous, you know, I love many kinds of spicy
food as well. Is good because now we just launch
orange wines like Orange Gold or Villa Solia, which has
been elected as the best orange wine in the world
in Paris two months ago, and it's orange wine are
(13:14):
very versatile. I mean now you see more and more
in the war people choosing family style. That means they
share the different dishes and with orange wine, you really
really enjoy this kind of mix.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I love that and I can almost imagine just the
versatility of the wines that you make, how they'll go
with the spices of African dishes and the freshness of
Japanese seafood, and just they're very versatile wines. So for
somebody who has not had the pleasure of tasting a
joy but trond wine, yet, what do you think they're
(13:51):
missing out on?
Speaker 3 (13:53):
First they have to read my book multi Dimensional Wine,
because after this book they will know more about me.
And if they feel happy, they can read the two
other books I have already written, like Wine, Moon and
Star and then not You're at Heart, And after that
they will go. They will know how to go and
(14:14):
to navigate into my wine world.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
So, if space aliens were to land on your property,
chateau hospitally, what of your which of your wines would
you want to welcome them with? To say welcome to
Joel buttran.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Oh, you know every were commanded chateaus pitally white because it's.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Made with local grapes like barbo.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
And Ermantino grenache brown and a touch of Uni and
it's very good to open your mouth for you know,
lunch or dinner. But also I really enjoy sparkling from
Limou and we just launch Egg Imperial nine years on Lis.
(15:01):
This is a vintage twenty fifteen and this is really
the grand crew of sparkling in the Sours of Fonts.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah. Well, you know there's no shortage of good offerings
if they were to land at your property. So you
started doing biodynamic farming and following those principles twenty five
years ago. We know that every vintage tells a different story.
In the South of France where you are, do you
see a lot of variation from year to year? Do
(15:31):
you see more commonality? What do you see? What does
vintage tell you in a region like south of France.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
You know, every every region, especially in France, you know,
as they own vintages and mean the footprint of the
vintage are always different because of the weather condition, because
also of the date of.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
You know, of.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Blooming, when its start to open the vines, and then
you know the vegetative cycle makes the difference, and then
the date of harvest is always different. In the South
of the tradition is to start the harvest end of
August and to finish mid of October. I mean it's
(16:28):
a window of forty five fifty days. And depending the
gray variety, the terror, the altitude, and also depending the
weather condition during the harvest, it's always different. Of course,
we want to keep the same character of the terroir,
(16:49):
but every vintage develop is on footprint.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Are there any sort of signs or predictors that you
look for that will tell you what a harvest is
going to be?
Speaker 3 (17:03):
You know, during the harvest, I do not travel, and
from the fifteenth of August to the fifteenth of October,
I walk every single day, seven days a week with
my team in a vineyard. We do ten to fifteen
miles per day, tasting grapes, tasting the pips, and after
(17:24):
five ten days I start to feel connected with the
spirit of the vintage, and then there's the best way
to take the best decision. That means, of course, you
can control the maturity of the berries with some analysis,
but the most important thing is what's happening to your mouth.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
And when you feel you.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Know the taste of the berries, the taste of the peep,
as well as when you see you know the vineyard,
you know the leaves and what is going on in
a different plots. You start to capture deescence of what
will happen in this vintage wonderful.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
So you spend all this time walking in the vineyards,
seventeen different properties, ten to fifteen miles a day on foot.
I know you're working with other people, but do you
have a tendency to have any communication with your vines?
Do you talk to them, yell at them? Do they
talk to you?
Speaker 3 (18:28):
You know, No, I don't talk to them. I just
feel the connection with with a nature with the vines.
And also I observe the soil. I can touch the soil,
I touch the vines, and I capture hundreds and thousands
(18:49):
of information, and all these information will be back to
me when I start the blending process. I mean, you
cannot find the perfect balance if you don't remember what's
happened in each different plots during the houvest.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
It's a lot of information to maintain, a lot of memory,
to keep your mind going, to remember each plot, and
to know when you're tasting wine later to remember. I'm
impressed a lot of retention.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
One thousand and one details. This is what my father
teach me.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Detail is important. So for your with the traditions, with
all the time you've been making wine, do you have
any sort of good luck rituals that you and your
team do or you as a as just an individual
do at the start of harvest or during harvest.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
You know, we have some ceremonials that mean, you know,
the first day of the beginning of the harvest, we do.
We do lunch and we and we raise the glass
and we celebrate the new vintage. And it's not like
(20:11):
to pray, but it's a kind of spiritual communion between
all of us to say, okay, let's go for a
great vintage.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
So moving away from wine for a second, but maybe not.
Did you always know that this is what you want
to do? Or when you were a little boy, what
did you want to be when you grew up?
Speaker 4 (20:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (20:31):
You know, because I am raised and born in a vineyard,
you know, and I start to make my first hours
first when I turned ten years old with my father George,
you know, and because it teached me and coached me
for twelve years before he passed away in nineteen eighty seven,
I knew that.
Speaker 4 (20:53):
I have a passion for that.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
And of course in the same time, I was very
passionate about rib because I was an athlete and I
play at the top.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Level rugby four ten years.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
I won three times the French Cup, and I play
for my country and really enjoy it. But you know,
I did both because at this time, even if I
played the top level, rigby was not professional and I
managed in the same time my rugby career and I
took over the family estate when my father passed away,
(21:27):
and when I was only twenty two. I mean, he
was a challenge, but I had taken the decision to
do both, and until turn thirty, this is what I
have done.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
And then when I stopped to play rugby, I was
focused one and person.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
To my company and we moved from three people in
the company to more than five hundred now. I mean,
he was a long journey and it was important for
me to keep the vision because people say, oh, yeah,
Jerarberkrai is very successful, and that's true now, but it
took me really twenty five years to take off. I mean,
(22:07):
nothing happen overnight. And when you keep the vision high,
when you have the right strategy, when you have a
great team with you, you know you go over the problems
and then finally one day you start to feel the
recognition of the markets. And I feel proud of that
(22:30):
because he was he was a long journey and sometime
about it.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah, so you've dedicated your life to this and with
seventeen properties and selling wine around the world and writing
three books. I don't think you have a lot of
free time. But when you have free time, what do
you like to do?
Speaker 4 (22:51):
Nothing?
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Just go to the beach.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Yeah, I lay down on the beach and I seep
a glass of the god there rose sometimes or gribla,
and I relax. But you know, at the end, after
three days, I want to do something. And of course
I like now I love to play tennis, and I
play tennis and sometimes.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
I dream about tennis.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I'm crazy, And yeah, I like to play tennis with
my wife or my son or my daughter. But and
what I like to do is to dream as well,
because when you do nothings, you start to dream. And
it's very important to have dreams, you know, because sometimes
dreams come true, and if it doesn't, it's not a
(23:40):
big problem. But I like to dream because you know,
I like to to think.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
About the universe.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
You know, can you imagine that we we have in
the universe billion of billions of galaxy and billion of billions.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Bi planets, and.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
That's why, you know, he creates a new paradigm for
human being based on the paradigm of love and not
anymore on the paradom of fear, because at the end
there is no reason to be afraid about what is
going on, because at the end you have to look
at the star and you feel better. And I like
(24:24):
to do that because in the South of Fronce we
have amusing, you know sky, especially because as we have
some wind, the sky is without any clouds and I
like it. That's why, you know, is a good like
meditation process. I lay down on my garden and I
(24:44):
look at the sky and I feel happy.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
So you don't play rugby anymore, But do you have
a favorite team?
Speaker 3 (24:55):
Oh yeah, of course, because you know, I am one
of the more most important shareholder of my team where
I play for seventeen years, Narbourne Narbourne. Now we play
in third division and maybe we will move up to
second division soon. And also I really enjoy to support
(25:17):
the team where I started to play, Korbia fifteen, because
this is where my uncle and my father were involved
in this club for many years, and twenty of the
players of this local club work for my company. I mean,
it's very important for me and.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
For my heart.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
I love that. So if your team Narbourne was to
win the championship, and it sounds like they're winners since
they might move up a level, which of your lines
would you want to toast them with and celebrate many
of them?
Speaker 3 (25:54):
You know, because the rugby players are very often one
drinkers and you know. And I cannot say everything, but
we have done many parties and it's part or so
of my life. When people ask me what your job,
I say, you have two job. My first job is
(26:14):
to be a one grower and my second one sometimes
is to be a party maker. That's why we do
a jazz festival in the south of France. One of
the most exciting.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Jazz festival at Chatoospitaly.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
Always mid of July and we lost nine thousand people
in five nights and we celebrate every single minute.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
I had the pleasure to attend the jazz festival, oh,
probably almost ten years ago, a while ago.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
You should you should be back.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I would love to. It was wonderful. Visited a few
of your properties, and at that point you didn't have seventeen,
but you were just opening up one or two new ones.
I think, wow, I mean it's grown exponentially. But tell
me something you've talked about. You've given a lot of
insight about your philosophy and you know things that your
father told you. Is there one piece of advice that has,
(27:11):
you know, kind of stuck with you that maybe your
father gave you or that you've learned along the way,
aside from one thousand and one details.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
You know, my father was a pioneer, and when you
are a pioneer, it's difficult because people doesn't want to
believe in you. Sometimes doesn't want to think that what
you are doing is possible and achievable. And if fight
against the people because he was twenty in advance.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Compare to the others.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
And myself, you know, I just want to tell the
people that never never, you lose your dreams and also.
Speaker 4 (27:56):
Never give up.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
That mean, when you plant a vineyard, it's not for you,
it's not for your kids, it's for your grandkids. That means,
you know, the the vision is between thirty to forty
years and this is a journey. That means you know,
you have to shoot for the stars and then to
(28:18):
go a little further.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
So you have to look forward and you may not
get the instant gratification, but you're planning for the future.
But that said, when you look back at your career
so far, what would you say is one of your
proudest achievements to date?
Speaker 3 (28:39):
I think the most important thing, not for me, but
for the people who work with me and for the
wee lovers is to have put the South of France
in the map in the world of when I mean
now languadogs, South of France Israeli a destination and you
(29:05):
can go everywhere in the world. Now you go in
the restaurant, you go in the retail, you can find
some South of France wine in the list. And it
didn't exist forty years ago. That means it took it
took time to make it happen, to convince people at
(29:26):
the distributory level, at the retail level, at the restaurant level,
you know, to join us and to share the DNA
of the South of France with their community of consumer
and wine.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Lovers love that.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
So if you're planning a romantic evening for you and
your wife, what sort of wines do you open?
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Well, I cannot reveal to use my cap secrets anything
in particularly you start with, does you know I had
a joke because you know for the great vintage, I say,
is because my wife dans naked with me on the
under the vats. But is a joke yet? But no,
(30:13):
I think you know it depends. But when the when
the sun at the end of the day, for the sunset,
you know, I really enjoy to look at the sun
because the intensity of the light is not too strong.
(30:35):
And when you can look at the sun, you feel
happy because you discover that the sun is the reason
why we are alive, because without sun, no more humanity
and no more parse you know. And that's why you
know when you think of that, if I open the
(31:00):
all of Villa Sola, which is an orange wine, and
if I look at the color of Villa Soliah, I
can look the color and at the same time I
see the same color in the in the sun at
the end of the day, and I feel connected with
the wine and with and with the universes. I mean,
(31:22):
this is this is very interesting because when you share
that with your you know, with your with your wife,
or with your company or you know you you feel
connected and you understand why. Also whine is unique because
(31:45):
whine it's it's a single beverage which deliver the sense
of place. And because we use also biodynamic principle, we
reent for the connection between the planets, the moon, the
(32:06):
sun with ears. I mean we are in the middle,
but we are the reason why everything happened.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
I love that so complete this sentence. For me, a
table without wine is.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
Like, you know, it's like losing time.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
So I want you to imagine a scenario. You've talked
about how wine is something you can connect with and
when you're sharing with their people, you're connecting. If you
have a bottle of wine at the table and there's
an empty seat next to you, who, from any walk
of life, living or disease, would you love to share
a bottle of jard Bertron wine with who? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (32:56):
You know, I think.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
You'll probably tell me you've already shared it with so
many amazing people.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
No, now we share how we share? If I have
an empty seat with the guy the workers would do
the prunning from December to March, with the wind, with
the cold weather, with humility alone, working hard, even hour
per day, because these people are the reason why the
(33:24):
quality is there. I mean, without them, you know, no
more quality in the bottle. I mean we pay attention
for that. That's why we celebrate the pruning and we
do a festival pruning in.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
Order to.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Pay a tribute for these people because they have a
passion for what they are doing.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
So with the biodynamic principles that you follow, and obviously
you're talking about how a vineyard is for many generations.
Thirty forty years, with climate change and everything, you think
will still be drinking wine and three hundred years, five
hundred years.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Five hundred years, I don't know, but in the next
fifty year for sure, because we are producing wine for
eight thousand years, starting in Georgia and then the Egyptians
and then the Greek provide us twenty four century ago,
(34:24):
some indigenous grape in the south of France. They arrive
in Harbourne Beach with the chips on the boat at
this time, sorry, with and with grave huges, and then
the Roman develop you know, the vineyard in the south
of France. Mean, this is a very strong legacy and
(34:47):
these people they have also seen many changes with the
climate over the last thousand years a med and always optimistic.
Of course, we have some issue now, but everywhere in
the world. That's why, you know. We are working to
(35:10):
use more local grapes, more indigenous grapes, you know, and
we do some crossing as well to be more resistant
for the heat, for the dryness, and this is an
ongoing process.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
I love it. I've got We're coming to the end,
and I have a couple quick questions for you.
Speaker 4 (35:33):
Quick ish.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
One is if if you were going to outer space
or a deserted island or anything, and you can only
take three bottles with you, what three wines would you take?
Speaker 4 (35:45):
We take.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
A single vineyard Cola Forge because it's a tribute to
my father. It's one twenty five years old, Carrinean with
a very old CRR.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
How we take deers Lash because.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Because dimensional wine. And then I will close my eyes
and we take a bottle in my sala without knowing
what it is in order to have a surprise.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
And we always play a little game to kind of
round out the end of this podcast. It's called wine soundtrack.
So music. You do a jazz festival, so music obviously
plays a role in what you do. And you understand
the sort of magic maybe of the combination of wine
and music that they both create emotions in us. So
I would love based on some of the wines that
(36:40):
you've talked about today, I'm going to name of wine
and you tell me a genre, a song, a musician
that you would correlate to it. You can be as
specific as you want or not, but let's start with
the Limoux sparkling wine.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Limou sparkling, I will say, Norah, John's okay.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
What about the white wine that you mentioned that had
Burblanc and Vermentino and little Vigne, I would.
Speaker 4 (37:11):
Say Uribon Avantura is the king of salsa.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
He's good at this, yes, And what about the Chatelast.
But hospital the signature wine that you would the red wine.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
I would say it's my life John bon Jovi, because
he's my friend and because I love his music.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Oh, we could keep going, but I'm gonna do one
more wine. The wine that you made in honor of
your father.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
Why you know, I know my father with La Forge
because he was my hero. He was also.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
You know, my source of inspiration for rugby and wine,
and also because you know he walked out with my
mother to give us a chance to have a future.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
And so what song or musician would you pair with
that wine?
Speaker 4 (38:10):
We'll have some Grigorian music.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Okay, well, Gerard, we have come to the end of
the conversation. But I do have a final question for you,
which is, if somebody were to want to visit you
and taste your wines, where can they find you and
what kind of experiences can they have. I know you
said that you have a hotel at one of your properties,
(38:35):
you have Michelin star restaurants. Tell us just a little
bit about where we can find you and what we
can experience.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
Of course, you know we have one of the best
destinations in the one industry because we have a forty
one suite facing the ocean in the south of France,
and we will open also in May. You know, Chateau
La sau Vajean. It's a Nico Nique state in the
Terasu Lasak and we will open a seven star you know,
(39:05):
destination with five rooms. Yeah, sky sky is a limit
with us, and it will be one of the most
exciting destinations as well.
Speaker 4 (39:17):
In the source of that.
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Wow, So you have accommodations, you have restaurants, and people
can just come and taste at your property as well.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Yeah, yeah, of course we have a nice sellar and
you know you can taste for free.
Speaker 4 (39:29):
That means you can taste all the one that you want.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
And we have also, you know, the possibility to to
bring people with us in the vineyard and to also
to lay down in the beach club because of the
beach club will open the first of May and it
will open until the end of September. And this is
(39:52):
also really what I like to go because even if
I stay on this one hour there, I feel like
if I was in.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Holiday, I've been to your beach beach club for lunch,
and you are the mayor of the town. You are
definitely the mayor of south southern France. If there is
one place in the world on your bucket list to
go travel, is there anywhere you haven't been that you
want to go?
Speaker 3 (40:21):
Yeah, many places, you know. I am a global traveler.
I mean I was lucky enough to see beautiful places.
But I think I want to go in Costa Rica
because this is a this is a kingdom of Natcho.
Speaker 4 (40:40):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Well, you go take a vacation in Costa Rica and
everyone else needs to hop on a plane to the
south of France to go explore yard Bertron Wnes Greed.
Thank you for joining us today and let's go have
a glass of wine.
Speaker 4 (40:51):
Thank you, pleas raise a glass.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Thanks for listening to a new episode of Wine Soundtrack USA.
For details and updates, visit our website winds down at dotcom.
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