TRY ME IF YOU LOVE: Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux ABV: 14.5% GRAPES: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz TASTING NOTES: Full-bodied yet fresh, this is a fine example of a Douro red, packed with wild berries, plums and baking spices, powerful without being heavy. PAIRS WITH: Pairs well with grilled red meats, game, hearty stews, rich pasta dishes and mature cheeses. SERVE ME: Just below room temperature, decant if you can The 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 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. A wine-making adventure: “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” Jean-Michel Cazes. The vinification process 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”. French oak barrels, which are provided by Château Lynch-Bages’s supplier, are used to mature the wine. Bottle ageing takes place in a temperature controlled environment in Quinta do Crasto’s warehouse.
