Luis Seabra Indie Xisto Tinto 2018

After a decade as winemaker at Niepoort, where he was responsible for some of the best known and highest rated wines to come out of the famed Douro and Porto producer, Luis Seabra decided that he no longer wanted to make wines to someone else’s tastes and specifications. Thus, he began his eponymous winery, and set about shattering preconceptions of what Douro wines represent. The Xisto Cru Branco is one of a series of wines that Luis makes that exemplify and express the intensely terroir-driven style in which he operates. He is a particularly gifted winemaker, one who sees wine as a medium through which a piece of land can speak. “Cru” translates as “raw” in Portuguese, and the transmission of terroir here is unadulterated and singular. This series of wines is one in which he removes every variable but that of the land itself, and the stark expression of the soil that results is extraordinary. He works exclusively with spontaneous fermentation, native yeasts, and large format tight-grained oak for all the wines in this series.

Indie Xisto Douro Tinto is a pure expression of terroir, crafted from a single, sustainably farmed vineyard in Alijó, Douro. Planted over 70 years ago in an unlikely site for red wine, the vines thrive in clay loam soil with a predominance of blue slate at 580 meters elevation. Vinified with indigenous yeasts, Luis Seabra ensures that the soil remains the defining element of the wine’s character. This vineyard showcases the unique balance of altitude, soil, and tradition.

Sustainably farmed single vineyard planted since 1950. Tended in blue schist soil at 510 (1,673 ft) elevation.