Luís Seabra Vinhos Xisto Cru Tinto 2022 750ml

Aromas of conserved cherries with herbal and floral notes, dark olives and dark berries. The palate is medium- to full-bodied, with fine-grained tannins, combining precision with an expansive flow. Dark fruit flavors, balancing freshness and a long and lovely finish. Made from two 100-year-old vineyards in Cima Corgo. Aged for 18 months. Drink now or hold.

The top-of-the-range in Douro, the 2022 Xisto Cru Tinto was produced with grapes from two plots of old vines (centenarian) at 450 and 570 meters above sea level planted with the traditional field blend in the region of Cima Corgo—Rufete, Touriga Franca, Tinta Carvalha, Alicante Bouschet, Donzelinho Tinto, Malvasia Preta and others. It fermented by vineyard in open oak vats with 100% full clusters and indigenous yeasts with a shorter maceration time this year, only 22 days. It matured in used 228-liter oak vats where it also underwent malolactic fermentation, for 22 months. It's serious, harmonious, a little backward and shy and has a deep color and a deep nose that is nuanced and insinuating and takes time to open up in the glass. It has contained ripeness and low alcohol for the year (13.5%), keeping exceptional acidity and freshness. The great vineyards behave even in the most extreme years. 7,523 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2024.

A bright, mineral-driven red, with a dark core of ripe black plum and steeped black raspberry fruit, mandarin orange peel and heavy ground white pepper, anise and cardamom. Reveals fine, chewy tannins on the smoke- and crushed stone-accented finish. Touriga Nacional, Rufete, Touriga Franca, Alicante Bouschet, Tinta Roriz, Donzelinho Tinto and Malvasia. Drink now through 2028. (Alison Napjus)