Bertrand releases £50 ‘icon’ Crémant de Limoux

Languedoc producer Gerard Bertrand has launched a £50 Crémant de Limoux rosé to prove that the South of France can produce “iconic” sparkling wines.

Called Ballerine, the pale pink sparkler spends 36 months on its lees and has been made with top rosé Champagnes in mind.

Speaking to the drinks business during ProWein in Dusseldorf this week, Bertrand said: “I welcomed the challenge of making an iconic sparkler from the South of France.

Bertrand’s new £50 Crémant de Limoux: Ballerine

“It is by far the most expensive Crémant de Limoux on the market but I’m benchmarking it against top rosé Champagnes like Billecart-Salmon. We’ve created our own special glasses for it as I want customers to have the full Ballerine experience.

“I’m aiming it at sparkling wine connoisseurs and have made it to prove to the world that we have sparkling icons in Southern France.” As for the rosé category, pink wine sales are flying for Languedoc based Bertrand.

“Rosé is really important for us now and accounts for 30% of our total sales. It’s a great gateway wine that brings new consumers into the wine category.

“Rosé has great momentum all around the world and ours are selling really well in Asia at the moment where there is a focus on food and rosé matching,” he said.

“The top rosé’s are now at the same quality level as the top reds and whites of the world. It’s important for the rosé category to have different styles, from approachable to more complex, oak-aged expressions.

“I believe in rosé’s ageing potential and want to host a vertical tasting of our rosé’s looking back over ten years to prove it,” he added.

Rosé has become so popular in France that it is now more widely drunk than white wine in the country.

“We drink a lot more rosé than white wine now in France – 33% of the wine drunk is rosé in France,” Bertrand told db. “Everybody is trying to make rosé now but you need the right expertise to make a good one,” he added.