Luis Seabra
When Luis Seabra told us in 2012 about his plans to make wine under his own name, we signed up straight away. We had known him for 10 years as a winemaker at Niepoort and knew we could not miss this.
Luis makes unique wines, clearly marked by their origin and always with Burgundian finesse.
Luis Seabra is available in Belgium from The Portugal Collection. We import the wines directly and deliver throughout Belgium.
Just in
We were out of it for a while, but the new Granito Cru Alvarinho 2024 vintage has arrived. An Alvarinho from granite soils, with substance and tension, that can age for years in bottle.
Luis went to work with 2 old vineyards in the Cima Corgo, the heart of the Douro and bottled his best grapes under the label ‘CRU’, a nod to French tradition but also and above all a reference to his method: making pure wines with minimal intervention.
The choice of vineyards and the care of the vines are the foundation. After that he lets nature do its work. He only adds a small amount of sulphite, as he puts it, ‘to help the wines keep their precision’.
Xisto and Granito
With a simple reference to the soils his grapes grow on, Luis distinguishes his wines: the Douro wines are bottled under the Xisto label, while Vinho Verde and Dão are released as Granito.
Luis's ambition is captured clearly: 'We want our wines to show the different soils the vineyards are planted on, the different altitudes and exposures, their differences and similarities.' Little wonder that Luis Seabra has a marked preference for old vineyards: 'Over the years I have developed a special bond with some of the old vines. They are not lush and their trunks are usually not thick or imposing. On the contrary, they are slender and twisted, with a serenity of their own that comes with age. They react more calmly than other vineyards to different weather, cope better with heat peaks and water stress, and also withstand the rain that tends to fall before harvest better.
These vineyards have a unique character, given by the place where they are planted and the varieties that make up the blend. If we respect the individuality of the grapes in the winery, the wines will be like the vineyards: discreet, not exuberant, and with a depth and complexity born of years of experience'.
Granito Cru Alvarinho
For his Granito Cru Alvarinho, Luis turns to the granite soils of Monção e Melgaço, in the north of the Vinho Verde. His aim is to bring out the full potential of the Alvarinho grape: a white wine with plenty of substance, fermented and aged in wooden foudres, that gains complexity with years in bottle.
Luis Seabra today
Luis rents around six hectares of vineyards in the Douro, with vines between 20 and 90 years old, and has 3.5 hectares of Alvarinho in Melgaço. In the Dão he has no vineyards of his own but works with old plots around Gouveia. He also consults for other estates in Portugal and in Ribeira Sacra (Galicia), where his Delito comes from. He makes some 160,000 to 200,000 bottles a year.
What Robert Parker Wine Advocate says
Luis Gutiérrez, who covers Portugal for Robert Parker Wine Advocate, describes Seabra's wines as pure and refined, with a strong sense of place and vintage. Some recent scores: Xisto Cru Tinto 2023 95/100, Xisto Cru Tinto 2022 94/100, Xisto Cru Branco 2023 94/100, Indie Xisto 2021 94/100, Granito Cru Alvarinho 2022 92/100 and Xisto Ilimitado Branco 2024 92+/100.
We have been fans from the very start and can assure you that Luis Seabra practises what he preaches.
Luis Seabra in our range
Including:
- Xisto Ilimitado: white and red (Douro)
- Xisto Cru: white and red (Douro)
- Indie Xisto (Douro)
- Granito Cru Alvarinho (Vinho Verde)
- Granito Cru Dão (Dão)
- Mono A Dão Tinto (Dão)
- Delito (Ribeira Sacra, Spain)
View them in the webshop · More about the regions: Vinho Verde, Douro and Dão.
Delivery and collection
We deliver throughout Belgium. Shipping costs €15.73 (incl. VAT) and is free from €175. Prefer to collect? You can pick up your order at our shop in Roeselare, Kaaistraat 62A. More about delivery