Luís Seabra Xisto Ilimitado Duoro Branco 2023

For nearly two decades, Luís Seabra has been at the center of a cultural shift in Portuguese winemaking, leading a movement of young, independent winemakers making history by reclaiming historical vineyards, grape varieties, and techniques. Seabra is dedicated to proving that fresh, elegant, terroir-driven still wines can be made in the Douro Valley. His fundamental understanding of soil coupled with his philosophy of minimal intervention in the vineyard and winery have launched him into the international eye as a leader of the New Portugal; according to Eric Asimov, he “is now making some of Portugal’s most compelling wines, both white and red.” Luís Seabra works with old vineyards because he believes that old vines are more resilient and well-equipped to handle the region’s intense weather; this makes them the best candidates to faithfully communicate special terroirs. When he started his solo project in 2013, he created the “Cru” series of wines, which revolve not around grape varieties, but vineyard sites. In Seabra’s own words: “we did this to show how we can put the place in the bottle.” Xisto Ilimitado is a Portuguese analogue to the idea of a “village” level Burgundy. A field blend of 4 varieties planted across 3 subzones in the Douro, Ilimitado is a survey of the schist-driven terroir in the appellation. Bright, focused and fresh, Xisto Ilimitado is a great introduction to the new Douro.