Xisto Cru tinto 2023, Luis Seabra

“The top-of-the-range red 2023 Xisto Cru Tinto comes from two old vineyards and does not carry the Douro appellation this year. It fermented separately in open top-oak vats with indigenous yeasts and 100% full clusters and matured in used 228-liter barrels for 22 months, including malolactic. It's still a textbook, old-vine red from the Douro field blend, with notes of wet slate, berries and herbs and a spicy twist; it just has less volume, a finer-boned palate and a more elegant mouthfeel. The wine has contained ripeness and low alcohol, 12.5% on the label, with a pH of 3.61 and 6.4 grams of acidity. It's open, clean and expressive and has very fine tannins, coming through as balanced and harmonious but not lacking power. 6,900 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2025.”