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.