Upon meeting with many welcoming producers of the Cognac and Armagnac regions, they were able to enter the warehouses and taste the distillates straight from the cask.

Bringing individual strengths and skills to the project, they make up a coherent and mutually complementary team, which despite having different tastes and spirit focuses, almost always have the same favorites in a blind tasting.

When it comes to shortlisting a barrel however, as a general rule, at least 4 out of 5 of the group must be enthusiastic about what they are tasting in order for the Grape of Art promise of quality to be ensured. After exploring the barrel cellars and leaving the site at the producer’s, the five take samples of the best barrels home. At home, these are then divided up and each team member tastes them again blindly and impartially, together with reference bottlings for themselves.

Then, in the final round of the tasting, the five come together to taste them again and make the final decision. With this approach, the warehouse emotions and the influence of age, brand or alcohol strength move into the background and objectivity increases. And while each member of the team takes different responsibilities when it comes to barrel selection and label artwork, they always make the final decision together.

So with such a rigorous tasting process, guaranteeing fine quality selections and with a fresh new aesthetic giving spirits that are steeped in tradition a contemporary twist – what more could be asked of an independent bottler?