Created by Andy Cook and Philippe Gard in the Roussillon, Consolation is a range of wines intended to reflect the best of each vintage, and changes from year to year. At harvest, they select the best fruit from their own or friends' vineyards and vinify it apart to reflect the character of the vintage.
They practise shoot and fruit thinning in the vineyard, manual harvest, hand selection of grapes in the winery, hand-powered vertical pressing, foot-treading and manual pigeage. All this ensures we are in contact with the developing wine as much as possible.
Each year is different, and brings a different set of rules for wine style, vinification and elevage. The wines are for the most part an adventure with a single varietal. This allows us to discover the essence of each variety we grow here, and to search for our interpretation of the purest expression of each cultivar.
Andy trained as a winemaker in New Zealand, and has worked buying, selling, judging and promoting wine and whisky for 20 years. Philippe is trained as an agricultural engineer and winemaker, and has consulted for many top Bordeaux Châteaux, and elsewhere around the world.
Visit Consolation's site to learn more.
