At a meeting with many hospitable producers from the Cognac and Armagnac regions, they were able to enter the warehouses and taste the distillates straight from the barrel.
They bring their individual strengths and skills to the project, forming a cohesive and complementary team that, despite different tastes and spiritual focuses, almost always has the same favorites in a blind tasting.
When selecting a barrel, however, at least 4 out of 5 members of the group usually have to be enthusiastic about what they are tasting in order for the Grape of Art quality promise to be kept. After touring the barrel cellars and leaving the producer's premises, the five take home samples of the best barrels. At home, these are then divided up and each team member tastes them again blind and impartially, along with reference bottlings for themselves.
In the final round of tasting, the five then come together again to taste the barrels and make the final decision. With this approach, the emotions of the lager and the influence of age, brand or alcohol content fade into the background and objectivity increases. And although each team member takes on different responsibilities in selecting the barrels and designing the labels, they always make the final decision together.
With such a rigorous tasting process that guarantees a high-quality selection and a fresh, new aesthetic that gives traditional spirits a contemporary twist - what more could you ask for from an independent bottler?
