Luis Seabra Douro Xisto Cru Tinto 2022

Luis Seabra is considered one of Portugal's avant-garde winemakers. After a long career as a winemaker at Niepoort, another pioneer in the Douro region, he founded his own winery. Luis's mission? To demonstrate that the Douro, famous for its fortified ports, offers an excellent terroir for top-quality white and red wines.

He proves this once again with this magnificent Xisto Cru. Cru in this case refers not only to the wine's quality (at least premier, if not grand), but also to Luis's approach. Luis wants to let the Douro terroir (schist, or xisto) express itself in all its purity in his wines, and therefore works as minimalistically as possible in the cellar. Cru is also Portuguese for "raw," thus hinting at the wine's unadorned style.

Luis hand-harvests the grapes for the Xisto Cru (a field blend of local varietals) from two vineyards in Cima Corgo. The vines are over eighty years old, and the soil consists of a mix of clay and blue and yellow schist. Luis vinifies the grapes from each plot separately. He spontaneously ferments whole bunches of grapes in open port barrels. The wines then mature for twenty months in used French oak barriques. Finally, the wines are blended and bottled.

The result is an impressive red wine with a unique signature. Unmistakably Douro in power and flavor profile, yet remarkably fresh, minerally, and refined. Enjoy this beautiful, top-quality wine with dishes featuring mushrooms or truffles, roasted red meat, or game. Best enjoyed after several years in the bottle, or (if enjoyed young) after aeration in a carafe.