Bertrand Amer Biere (Bitter Orange Aperitif)

The Bertrand family settled in Uberach, a small Alsatian village in the Val de Moder, more than a century and a half ago. Joseph Bertrand established the distillery in 1874, drawing on the surrounding orchards and farm activity to distil local fruit into eaux-de-vie. The house operated as a family business through the twentieth century, producing the broad Alsatian eau-de-vie repertoire and a parallel range of macerated fruit liqueurs at lower ABV. Wolfberger, the Alsatian wine and spirits cooperative, acquired Bertrand in the late 1990s; from 2003 the distillery added French whisky to its output under the Uberach and Saint Wendelin labels.

The eaux-de-vie are the traditional anchor: kirsch (cherry), mirabelle (small yellow plum), quetsch (blue plum), framboise sauvage, poire William, prune vieille (oak-aged plum), gentiane, myrtille, baies de houx (holly berry), and fleur de sureau (elderflower) - most at 45% ABV, single-fruit, distilled from estate-pressed mash. The Uberach and Saint Wendelin whiskies sit alongside in the modern range. In March 2025 Wolfberger announced the closure of the Uberach distillery and the relocation of whisky operations to Colmar, ending 151 years of distillation on the original site. The current inventory on the shelf represents the Uberach period.

Drink the clear eaux-de-vie chilled, neat, in small glasses - the Alsatian way is a digestif after a long meal, often paired with the fruit it was distilled from. The mirabelle and poire William are the most accessible entries; the framboise sauvage and kirsch reward slightly more attention. The Uberach whisky drinks neat or with a single rock. These bottles are also collector-relevant given the Uberach site's closure - the future of the eau-de-vie range under the same name remains uncertain.