Roquette & Cazes project represents, above all, the coming together of two friends, Jorge Roquette from Quinta do Crasto and Jean-Michel Cazes from Château Lynch-Bages.

In 2002, these two families decided to set up a company – Roquette & Cazes – to produce great wines that would be distinguished by the natural characteristics of the Douro Valley and by the experience of the Cazes, who have been producing wines in Bordeaux for nearly a century.

“Making a great wine using the Douro grape varieties, a wine with body and complexity which combines the power and the sun of Portugal with the elegance and finesse of Bordeaux” said Jean-Michel Cazes about this adventure.

There were two major challenges: to respect the character of the Douro so as not to lose the local feel and touch; to bring two different teams of winemakers together that speak different languages and work 1,000 km apart from each other. This is how Xisto – Roquette & Cazes 2003, the first wine of this project, was born. The wine was released at Vinexpo 2005 and was included in the “Top Ten” and in the “Les 3 Exceptionnels” category by the jury “Découvertes 2005″, giving Xisto – Roquette & Cazes 2003 immediate world-wide exposure.

After three successful vintages of Xisto – Roquette & Cazes, the two families decided to create another wine, giving birth to Roquette & Cazes 2006. This wine took the teachings of its elder brother Xisto – Roquette & Cazes. Equally elegant, fine, with depth, but was allowed to age more time in the bottle in order to be ready to drink when released.

With the birth of this new wine, Jorge Roquette and Jean-Michel Cazes decided to reposition the oldest wine of the project Xisto – Roquette & Cazes, to only bottle in years when the presence of fruit in the finished wine is so powerful, structured and prominent. The idea is to further increase the level of Xisto – Roquette & Cazes, making it a true Douro Valley icon alongside the wines Quinta do Crasto Vinha Maria Teresa and Quinta do Crasto Vinha da Ponte. The amount to bottle the new Xisto – Roquette & Cazes will always be very reduce, and should not exceed 3,000 bottles. When will be release a new Xisto – Roquette & Cazes? It is too early to know.

In the Roquette & Cazes project, the whole process begins in the vineyard. From time to time, family Cazes’s winemaker Daniel Llose goes to the Douro to visit the vineyards along with Manuel Lobo, Quinta do Crasto’s winemaker. The vinification process is conducted by the two winemakers and it takes place in Quinta do Crasto’s winery. In order to conserve, yet elegantly integrate, the Douro characteristics, a specific winemaking system was created. It includes a gentle pumping over process and long maceration periods which result in intense and elegant wines, with good structure and personality, deeply marked by the “terroir”.  The main grape varieties used are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz. Bottle ageing takes place in a temperature controlled environment in Quinta do Crasto.

Last Updated: April 03, 2024