2017 Luis Seabra Vinhos Douro Xisto Cru
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Tasting notes
80-year-old vines – 70% Rabigato, 10% Códega, 10% Gouveio and 10% of a Viosinho and Donzelinho Branco mixture – at 650–700 m on mica schist in Meda in the Douro Superior. Tasted just after Cedro do Noval Branco 2019 and seems more than two years older. Interesting mature nose reminiscent of beeswax with maybe just slightly too little acidity. There is green fruit here and many other components with some real future ahead of it to judge from the structure on the palate. Very interesting! But ambitiously priced. (JR)
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Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
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The 2017 Tinto "Xisto Cru" is a field blend (35%), plus roughly 20% Rufete, 15% Touriga Franca, 10% Alicante Bouschet, 10% Tinta Carvalha and various others making up the rest. It was aged for 20 months in used French barriques and comes in at 13.3% alcohol. This bottling from Seabra is coming in with surprisingly low alcohol levels. Even in the big 2017 vintage, it is less than 13.5%. Last year's was a mere 12.7%. What you get is somewhat familiar if you have tried the Castelão this issue—a wine with exceptional mid-palate finesse, crispness and precision. It is focused more on elegance than fruitiness. It is never close to being jammy. The grape blend here gives this a beefy nuance around the edges, so there is some hint of complexity even now. Then, the pure power takes over. This is intense, nervy and tight. As it airs out, it becomes even tighter. In structure, it is an old-school Barolo. Yet I think this is potentially better than the 2016, which I loved, while I'm not quite sure it matches the 2015—granting that they are not all here together. Let's start here and be a bit conservative just now. This brand does need to prove it can develop, not just hold, and this vintage needs to prove that in particular. If you're not willing to cellar this for a few years, it is probably best avoided. It may hit peak closer to around 2027.
Bush vines age 80+ on clay loam over slate, mostly blue and some yellow at 400–570 m. Rufete, Touriga Franca, Tinta Carvalha, Alicante Bouschet, Donzelinho Tinto, Malvasia Preta and others. The two vineyards were whole-bunch fermented separately. Vinification was done in 3,500-litre old open wooden port vats with indigenous yeast and nothing was added to the wine but sulphur dioxide. Aged in 350-litre and 228-litres used oak. Unnecessarily heavy bottle. Deep cherry red with purplish rim. Lifted sweet dark and dark-red fruit like blackberry and mulberry. And lightly floral. On the palate, more spicy and savoury, with a serious grip to the tannins even if they are fine grained. Even with the dry stony texture, there's juice and fruit at the core and plenty of freshness, in fact the tannins seem to accentuate the stony freshness. Extremely elegant, mouth-watering. Needs more time. (JH)