Clos d'Ora estate spotlight
Official Gerard Bertrand film of Clos d'Ora. The walled nine-hectare La Liviniere vineyard in the clip is the biodynamic estate in this 2017 bottle.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2017 Gerard Bertrand Minervois La Liviniere 'Clos d'Ora' Languedoc-Roussillon, France across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $174.45 and the average is $245.82. Our slash is $150.00.
2017 Gerard Bertrand Minervois La Liviniere 'Clos d'Ora' Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Gerard Bertrand's walled La Liviniere flagship, horse-plowed Syrah blend, a 94-point 2017 you can open at one hundred fifty dollars.
Clos d'Ora is Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Carignan from nine walled hectares at 220 meters: black fruit, garrigue, melted tannin, now $150.
A nine-hectare sanctuary, not a regional Languedoc blend
Gerard Bertrand walked this place in 1997 and waited until 2012 to bottle the first vintage. Clos d'Ora is nine hectares enclosed by dry-stone walls at La Liviniere, horse and mule, Demeter biodynamic, on a fault between limestone and marl. The 2017 is the flagship argument: black fruit, garrigue, and amplitude without a sugar costume. Decanter 94. This is Bertrand's life's work in one red.
The estate
Nine walled hectares at La Liviniere. Vine, olive, and oak. Bertrand bought the dream in 1997 and released the first wine from 2012.
The wine
Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Carignan. Concrete vats by parcel, then French oak. 15.5% ABV. Fewer than 12,000 bottles.
The scores
Decanter 94. Vinous 94. James Suckling 93. Wine Advocate 93.
The drinker
Black fruit and garrigue first. Decant an hour. Serve near 62 F. Lamb chops or a cowboy ribeye.
Black fruit, garrigue, then melted tannin
Bertrand's own note is deep ruby, intense black fruit, and subtle melted tannins with remarkable amplitude. James Suckling found berries, milk chocolate, menthol, grilled herbs, and tapenade, round and mellow. Wine Advocate found resinous garrigue, cedary oak, and mixed berries, lush and velvety.
Warm days, cool nights, concentration with line. The 2017 is already open and still has a decade in front of it. Concrete keeps perfume. Oak is a frame, not a toast ad.
Black fruit, blackberry, plum, garrigue, milk chocolate, menthol, grilled herbs, juniper.
Full, 15.5% ABV, melted tannin, concrete purity, French-oak seasoning.
Long, spicy, clean. Decant 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Parcels in concrete, then a year in French oak
Each variety and parcel ferments separately in thermoregulated concrete so perfume and texture stay in the same glass. Gismondi noted a year in French oak after the concrete. The point is amplitude without burying the garrigue. Horse and mule work the nine hectares. No tractor. Demeter certification is the farming credential, not a sticker.
Syrah for the spine, Grenache for the fruit, Mourvedre for depth, old Carignan for the south. 15.5% ABV. Serve slightly cool.
Decant an hour. Lamb, rosemary, and a hard sear pull the herbs and melted tannin into place.
Peace, love, harmony, and a walled farm
Ora is a name of peace. Bertrand took the old sheepfold and the enclosed vines and spent fifteen years before the first release.
The clos sits on a geological fault between limestone and marl at about 220 meters. Chalk, sandstone, and marl in one small amphitheater.
Bertrand is the South of France's biodynamic flagship. Clos d'Ora is the red he calls his life's work, not a second wine from Hospitalet.
The message on the label is peace, love, harmony. In the glass that reads as garrigue, black fruit, and a finish that does not shout.
Lamb on the grill, a thick ribeye
This wine wants char, herbs, and enough fat for 15.5 percent alcohol. Lamb and beef are the brief.
Two plates. One herb-crusted rack of lamb. One grilled cowboy ribeye.
Decant about 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. A large red glass keeps garrigue and chocolate in the same sip.
Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb
Rosemary, garlic, and a pink center. Clos d'Ora's Languedoc landing.
Why it works: Herb crust echoes garrigue while lamb fat handles melted tannin and 15.5% ABV.
View Recipe for herb-crusted rack of lamb (opens in a new tab)
Grilled Cowboy Ribeye
A thick bone-in ribeye, hard crust, coarse salt. Black fruit and chocolate have a place to land.
Why it works: Beef fat meets Syrah tannin while char pulls menthol, herbs, and tapenade forward.
View Recipe for pan-seared steaks (opens in a new tab)Put Clos d'Ora in the cart
Gerard Bertrand's walled La Liviniere flagship, Decanter 94. One hundred fifty dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the nine-hectare sanctuary, not a regional blend wearing a famous name.
