The Wine Bar Epiphany & the Grand Pré Hand
Yann Bertrand is one of the most exciting and sought-after producers of the new-generation Beaujolais — a vigneron who almost never became a winemaker at all. Born into the Bertrand family of Château de Grand Pré in Fleurie, Yann initially pursued commerce and banking, then travelled the French Alps working in wine bars and cavistes. It was there, surrounded by passionate wine geeks and artisan producers, that he discovered there was another side to Beaujolais — the wine-geek angle — and returned home in 2012 to take the reins. He learned from Jean Foillard, Yvon Métras, and the legendary Jacques Neauport (the quiet right-hand man to Jules Chauvet), and transformed his parents' estate into a beacon of organic and biodynamic viticulture. Today, Yann farms ~9 hectares of 30 to 110-year-old Gamay on the sandy granite (arène granitique) of Grand Pré, plus selected parcels across the Beaujolais crus. All wines are made with cold carbonic whole-cluster maceration in concrete, indigenous yeasts, no fining, no filtration, and no sulfites during vinification. The result is Beaujolais of extraordinary vibrancy, floral purity, and honest granite tension — wines that taste of the pink sands of Fleurie, the iron-rich schist of Morgon, and the patient, passionate hand of a man who found his calling behind a wine bar counter.
Louis, Guy & the Wine Bar Epiphany
The story of Yann Bertrand begins in the 1950s, when his grandfather Louis Bertrand established the family as winegrowers in Charentay, in the heart of Beaujolais. Louis and his wife Renée built a name for themselves, supplying wines to renowned establishments in Lyon and Paris — most notably the prestigious Cave Legrand. Yann's great-grandfather had an exceptional gift for wine tasting, and in 1972, while sampling a wine from Fleurie, he foresaw its great potential and urged his son to invest in parcels there. Without further ado, Louis, Renée, and their son Guy (Yann's father) took over the completely abandoned Château de Grand Pré estate in Fleurie, selling all their plots in Charentay to finance the move. The historic château — with its large, semi-underground vaulted cellar and dedicated winemaking area — was fully renovated, and a new chapter began for the 7.5-hectare estate.
In 1992, Guy Bertrand and his wife Annick took over the family business, gradually acquiring farmland surrounding the château and expanding the estate to ~13 hectares. They were pioneers in sustainable agriculture, using neither weedkillers nor crop protection products, and by 2005 they were experimenting with wine made without yeast, sulfur, or enrichment. In 2008, the entire vineyard was officially certified organic. But Yann, their son, had other plans. He briefly enrolled in commerce at a local university, earned a BTS in commerce and a professional degree in banking and insurance, and then travelled around the French Alps for a few years. When applying for local jobs, he noted that he was the son of a vigneron and soon found himself working in wine bars and wine shops, surrounded by passionate wine geeks and artisan winemakers who often came to deliver wine themselves. Tasting wines in a new way, he began to ask himself questions, and eventually decided that the métier of a winemaker would be interesting to him if he pursued it with the same passion as the role models he encountered.
Returning to Beaujolais in 2012, Yann enrolled at the Beaune wine school, where he met Julien Guillot of Domaine des Vignes du Maynes, who introduced him to the principles of biodynamics. That same year, he crossed paths with Pierre Masson, one of the great pioneers of biodynamics, who encouraged him to fully commit to the family estate. Yann began working with his parents, and in 2012 the estate was divided between Yann and his cousin Romain Zordan — each took charge of 7.5 hectares, cultivating their vines with distinct but equally passionate visions. Yann also connected with the incredible circle of producers he had never known before — Jean Foillard, Yvon Métras, and the behind-the-scenes guru Jacques Neauport (the quiet right-hand to the legendary Jules Chauvet) — who became his mentors and inspiration. In 2013, the entire vineyard was certified organic, and Yann began farming 3 hectares biodynamically, guided by the lunar calendar and a deep sensitivity to the land.
"The success of your colleagues tastes as thrilling as your own."
— Yann Bertrand
Grand Pré, Chaffangeons & the Sandy Granite
The estate is centred on the Château de Grand Pré in Fleurie, with a single 7.5-hectare block of contiguous vineyards that surround the château, plus additional parcels in Morgon and Beaujolais. The total surface farmed by Yann is approximately 9 hectares, all planted to Gamay — with a tiny planting of Aligoté in the Cuvée Emile. The soils are extremely fine sandy granite (arène granitique) — the pink granite sand that is the signature of Fleurie — with vines ranging from 30 to 110 years old. The estate is located at the southern edge of the Fleurie appellation, where the granite is particularly sandy and poor, forcing the vines to send roots deep into the subsoil in search of water and nutrients.
The Grand Pré block is the heart of the domaine — a single, contiguous parcel of ancient Gamay that surrounds the château like a walled garden of vines. The soils here are 97% sandy granite — the erosion product of Chiroubles rocks — with very little clay or organic matter. It is a poor, acidic soil that allows for concentrated wines of extraordinary aromatic purity. The Chaffangeons parcel is composed of deep granite soil rich in silt, farmed biodynamically since 2015 with alternating soil tillage and controlled natural grassing. The Bastys area is a single-hectare parcel of deep granite arena at 500 metres altitude. And the Bas Douby plot — the source of the Morgon Dynamite — is composed of granitic soils high in iron and shallow manganese, a tiny sliver of vines that reach across the boundary into Morgon.
Yann farms organically and biodynamically, with the entire vineyard certified organic since 2008 and progressively biodynamic since 2012. Pruning is done with precision and respect for the natural flow of sap, in the traditional gobelet style, with planting densities reaching up to 11,000 vines per hectare. Treatments include copper and sulfur in association with plant extracts (nettle, horsetail, buckthorn) to stimulate and regulate the vegetation. Yann alternates between phases of soil work and natural grassing, and has increased the organic matter in his parcels from 0.9% to 3.3% through composting and biodynamic preparations. He encourages a thick canopy of leaves to protect the grapes from intense sun, and works according to the lunar calendar to aid vine regeneration. The result is a vineyard that produces healthy, complex grapes requiring almost no cellar intervention.
Yann Bertrand is based at the Château de Grand Pré in Fleurie, in the northern Beaujolais crus of Burgundy, France. The property is accessible from Mâcon, Lyon, and the A6 motorway, and lies within one of the most historically significant and commercially dynamic wine regions of France. The surrounding landscape is a patchwork of granite hills, pink schist outcrops, and ancient Gamay vines that have defined Beaujolais viticulture for centuries. Fleurie is renowned as the most elegant and floral of the ten Beaujolais crus, and the Château de Grand Pré sits at the southern edge of the appellation, where the granite is particularly sandy and poor.
The Bertrand terroir is defined by extremely fine sandy granite — the arène granitique that is the signature of Fleurie. The soils are 97% sandy granite, the erosion product of Chiroubles rocks, with very little clay or organic matter. It is a poor, acidic soil that forces the vines to send roots deep into the subsoil, producing small berries with thick skins and concentrated flavours. The Chaffangeons parcel has deep granite soil rich in silt; the Bastys area has deep granite arena at 500 metres altitude; and the Bas Douby plot has granitic soils high in iron and shallow manganese. This geological diversity, combined with the semi-continental climate and the cooling influence of the surrounding forests, creates a microclimate of extraordinary clarity and balance — warm enough to ripen Gamay fully, cool enough to preserve the acidity and floral precision that define the estate's style.
Yann Bertrand farms his vineyards according to organic and biodynamic principles, with the entire estate certified organic since 2008 and progressively biodynamic since 2012. Pruning is done in the traditional gobelet style, with densities up to 11,000 vines per hectare, according to the lunar calendar to aid vine regeneration. Treatments include copper and sulfur combined with plant extracts (nettle, horsetail, buckthorn) to stimulate and regulate vegetation. Yann alternates between soil work and natural grassing, and has increased organic matter from 0.9% to 3.3% through composting and biodynamic preparations. He encourages a thick canopy of leaves to protect grapes from intense sun. The result is a living vineyard where old vines, sandy granite soils, and native flora coexist in a rhythm of biodynamic harmony and maximum natural health.
The old vines at Grand Pré are the patrimony of the estate. The vineyard is loaded with ancient vines — the youngest are 30 years old, with the oldest reaching 110 years of age. These centenarian vines are free-standing, gobelet-pruned, and worked entirely by hand on the steep sandy granite slopes. The extreme age of the vines, combined with the poor, acidic soils, produces tiny quantities of extraordinarily concentrated fruit. The old vines' deep, spreading root systems extract a greater diversity of minerals from the granite profile, and the patient, hand-shaped form of each vine is visible in the glass: wines of individuality, transparency, and living tension. Yann treats these vines as living history, as gifts from the past that demand patience, humility, and biodynamic care.
Cold Carbonic, Concrete & the No-Input Hand
For Yann Bertrand, the cellar is a place of radical simplicity and absolute respect for the living wine. All grapes are hand-harvested and sorted, then placed in a cold store overnight before being transferred, whole bunch, into concrete tanks for cold carbonic maceration. The grapes are saturated with carbon dioxide to prevent oxidation and foster intracellular fermentation. The maceration period lasts for 10 to 25 days depending on the cuvée and the vintage — sometimes as short as 8 days for the Primeur, sometimes as long as 20–25 days for the more structured wines. During this period, Yann avoids all intervention: no pigeage, no pumpovers, no temperature manipulation. The goal is the most delicate extraction possible and the silkiest tannins.
All wines ferment with indigenous yeasts. There is no added sulfur during vinification or élevage — a principle Yann holds sacred. No fining and no filtration are used. For ageing, Yann avoids new oak completely in favour of small used barrels (225L, at least 4 to 7 years old) and 600-litre demi-muids, which round the wine and preserve the fruity side without imposing woody flavour. The wines are racked and bottled by gravity, with only a minimal amount of sulfur added at bottling if necessary — though some cuvées, such as the Pure Oh! Rigine, are bottled with zero added sulfites. Yann's goal is to create wines that are vibrant, living, and deeply expressive of their terroir — wines with more freshness, more length, and more aroma than conventional Beaujolais.
Yann's approach has evolved deliberately. In his first year, he used selected yeast — because he didn't know how to make natural wine and had never seen it. By 2013, half the production was whole-bunch semi-carbonic; by 2014, 100% whole-bunch; and by 2015, he had begun chilling the grapes. He is meticulous in his monitoring, smelling the tanks consistently to ensure nothing is going awry, and using microscope analysis to assess yeast and bacteria when concerned. He is not dogmatic — if a fermentation is concerning, he will add a small amount of sulfites — but this is rare. The result is a style that is unmistakably Beaujolais in its juicy fruit and granite tension, yet utterly individual in its vibrancy, purity, and refusal to conform to convention.
Cold Carbonic, Indigenous Yeasts & the No-Sulfite Rule
The guiding principle of Yann Bertrand is that the wine is a living product, spoken by the biodynamically farmed old vines of Grand Pré, and protected by the minimum possible intervention. The biodynamic farming provides healthy, complex grapes. The hand harvest and severe sorting provide pristine fruit. The cold carbonic maceration of whole bunches in concrete tanks provides the fresh, fruity, floral character that defines great Beaujolais, while the absence of pigeage and pumpovers ensures the most delicate extraction and the silkiest tannins. The indigenous yeasts provide spontaneous, site-specific fermentation. The used barrels and demi-muids provide respectful ageing that rounds the wine without imposing woody flavour. The absence of sulfites during vinification and élevage, and the minimal addition at bottling, provides a wine that tastes of Fleurie granite, not of the laboratory. And the commitment to vibrancy — to wines that are fresh, long, and aromatic — provides the honesty and transparency that define the Bertrand style. The cellar is not a factory; it is a quiet continuation of the château — a place where cold patience, concrete generosity, and the refusal to standardise translate Gamay fruit into wine that is living, vibrant, and unmistakably of its place.
Coup de Foudre, Dynamite & the Folie Hand
Yann Bertrand produces approximately 30,000 to 40,000 bottles per year across a portfolio that spans both estate wines (Domaine Les Bertrand) and negociant wines — the latter born in 2016 after devastating hail and frost destroyed 80 to 100% of the crop in consecutive years. The range is built entirely around Gamay — with a tiny percentage of Aligoté in the Cuvée Emile — from organically and biodynamically farmed vineyards in Fleurie, Morgon, Beaujolais, Julienas, and Saint-Amour. All wines share a common foundation: hand-harvested grapes, cold storage, whole-bunch carbonic maceration in concrete tanks without sulfites, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, ageing in old barrels and demi-muids, and bottling with minimal or no sulphur, no fining, and no filtration. The result is a range that is as honest as it is vibrantly pure: each cuvée a different facet of the same Beaujolais landscape, each vintage a new conversation between vine, stone, and the no-input hand.
Fleurie & the Grand Pré Hand
Yann Bertrand is not merely a winery; he is a proof that a man who almost became a banker, armed with a wine-bar epiphany and the mentorship of Foillard, Métras, and Neauport, can transform a family estate into one of the most sought-after addresses in the reinvigorated Beaujolais. In an era when the region is still recovering from the industrial conventions of the late 20th century — when Beaujolais Nouveau was a commodity and chemical farming was the norm — Yann has demonstrated that the same sandy granite can produce both immediate joy and profound ageing potential, the same Gamay can be both floral and forceful, and the same carbonic maceration can yield both vibrancy and depth — if the farming is biodynamic, the cellar is a place of no inputs, and the philosophy is one of respect for the living wine.
The legacy of Yann Bertrand is the legacy of agricultural evolution and community generosity. Yann does not enter his vineyards to dominate them; he enters them to observe, to prune according to the lunar calendar, to spray nettle and horsetail rather than chemicals, and to accept that the sandy granite and the forest winds will dictate the vintage. The 110-year-old vines are not treated as commodities but as living history, as gifts from the past that demand biodynamic care and patience. The Château de Grand Pré is not a tourist attraction but a spiritual anchor — a reminder that wine has been made here since the 1950s, and that the best wines are those that serve the land rather than the market. And the negociant line, born of hail and frost, is not a second-tier project but a statement of solidarity — a commitment to organic growers across the Beaujolais crus and a refusal to let a bad vintage silence the family's voice.
The future of the estate is tied to the future of Fleurie and the old vines that Yann continues to tend with biodynamic patience. As the 110-year-old Grand Pré vines accumulate another decade of wisdom, as the Coup de Foudre finds its audience among drinkers seeking elegance and depth, and as the Morgon Dynamite proves that a sliver of iron-rich soil can produce a wine of extraordinary power, Yann Bertrand remains what he has always intended to be: a vigneron who makes living wines — vibrant, floral, and deeply tied to the sandy granite of Château de Grand Pré. The story of Yann Bertrand is the story of a man who looked at his family's château and saw not a burden, but a destiny — and who proved that the best bottle from Beaujolais is the one that needs no explanation, only a glass, a meal, and the patience to let the Grand Pré speak.
"The success of your colleagues tastes as thrilling as your own."
— Yann Bertrand