Luis Seabra Vinhos Xisto Cru Branco Duoro 2017

TAST­ING NOTES FROM THE CURATOR

Min­er­al­i­ty rings true from the very first sip of this wine, with tast­ing notes of stone, mead­ow herbs, dried quince, anise, and a faint salt and flint fin­ish. No won­der, since it’s made from 70 per­cent Rabi­ga­to — one of the bright­est, most acidic white grapes in the Duoro — bal­anced with Code­ga, Gou­veio, Vios­in­ho, and Dozeli­no Bran­co. It is a wine with fan­tas­tic struc­ture and finesse, a joy to drink imme­di­ate­ly or to store for a spe­cial occasion.

PAIR­INGS

Por­tuguese wines belong to the Old World wine group­ing, espe­cial­ly blends from the Duoro. While young, the Xis­to Cru Bran­co by Luis Seabra Vin­hos, made pre­dom­i­nant­ly with the high­ly aro­mat­ic Rabi­ga­to grape, is beau­ti­ful with seafood, espe­cial­ly grilled fish with a light sal­a­da mix­ta on the side. Shell­fish like stone crabs, mus­sels, and clams, plen­ti­ful in the region, also pair well with this wine. With a few years’ aging, the Xis­to Cru Bran­co also pairs well with stronger fish dish­es like bacalao, salty cod, and roast chick­en or rab­bit dish­es in white sauce. 

PURE OFF THE VINE

Luis Seabra spe­cial­izes in cru wines. Hav­ing got­ten his start at the pres­ti­gious Niepoort Win­ery in the Duoro Val­ley, Seabra decid­ed to strike out on his own in 2012. His goal in set­ting up shop in both the Duoro and the Dão regions of Por­tu­gal is to make wines from spe­cif­ic vine­yards with lit­tle inter­ven­tion, cre­at­ing vin­tages that are raw, pure, tast­ing of the ter­roir itself.

Storage Instructions

Store your unopened bot­tle in a cool, dry, and dark place safe from con­stant vibra­tion. Keep your bot­tle hor­i­zon­tal in a wine rack or cel­lar to retain the moist­ness of the cork. The ide­al tem­per­a­ture for stor­age is between 7 to 15°C. Once opened, a bot­tle will be good for 3 to 5 days stand­ing upright in the refrigerator.