Consolation ~ Rock 'n' Rolle Vermentino 2016

The story

I have previously had some of Consolation's red wines; I love their philosophy to produce a range of top quality single varietal wines from the Roussillon in SW France, wines of great character and purity. Consolation say "... each year is different, and brings a different set of rules for wine style, vinification and elevage. 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. 

Each cuvée is available only in very limited quantities – maybe only 2 barrels – and is genuinely hand-crafted from start to finish."

Vermentino is known as Rolle in Southern France and though Italian Vermentinos are perhaps better known, this unoaked wine produced from old wines on rocky clay soils displays the best characteristics of the grape.

The wine

I have long loved the Vermentinos of Corsica and wanted to add one to the portfolio but I stopped in Southern France with old friends, Consolation, whose red wines I have previously stocked. What I love about Vermentino is that it is a crisp and relatively light-bodied wine and yet it is also complex due to ageing on the lees during the production process. This means that the crisp acidity for which the grape is known is balanced with fruit flavours like lime, grapefruit and apple plus nuts,  herbaceous and floral notes. The complexity also means that it is also a pretty food-friendly wine. Rock n Roll!

This wine is great as an aperitif but because of its structure it will match well with a range of foods including richer dishes in buttery, creamy or tomato-based sauces. Even some of those vegetables that can be hard to pair with wine will come alive with this wine, vegetables such as artichokes, asparagus, fennel, radicchio, endives and spring onions. Similarly the wine will stand up to strong-flavoured herbs such as basil, dill and garlic.