TN: 2004 Roquette e Cazes Xisto

[Andy Velebil]

Open this a couple of nights ago and finished the last glass this evening. This was an interesting bottle in that it was a combination of an old school Douro with tons of New World oak dominating everything. More restrained and rustic on the palate it reminded me of a more traditional Douro yet I just couldn't get past all that oak. By today the oak had mellow considerably on the palate, letting the fruit shine. But the finish was again marred by a huge oak influence. This would be a very nice wine if they would only reduce the oak influence allowing the wine to speak for itself.
84 points

[David Spriggs]

Wow. Too bad. This was a nice wine early on - but always marked by oak.
-Dave-

[Andy Velebil]

Yes definitely a case where the oak didn't integrate with time. I found my old TN on this from the 2006 Harvest Trip and I liked it quite a bit better back then.

[John M.]

I have some of this and was going to open over the holidays. Andy, I gather from you notes to open at least a day in advance--is that correct? I was able to get a couple of these for $20/bottle last year--the wine store owner loved these and he is a pro so I'm a bit hopeful. Thanks.

[Andy Velebil]

I have some of this and was going to open over the holidays. Andy, I gather from you notes to open at least a day in advance--is that correct? I was able to get a couple of these for $20/bottle last year--the wine store owner loved these and he is a pro so I'm a bit hopeful. Thanks.

It depends on what you're looking for. If you want to lessen the oak influence I'd give it a long decant. If that isn't an issue then you could pop-and-pour it. For me it was just far to much oak for this level of a wine and the longer it sat open the less impact it had.

[John M.]

Thanks Andy