Luis Seabra Xisto Ilimitado Branco 2024

Luis Seabra spent a decade as winemaker at Niepoort, learning from one of the best. Then he decided to strike out on his own. He doesn't focus on single vineyards. He focuses on single soils. Granite. Schist. For this Branco, he went with mica, schist, and feldspar, which he believes are the best for whites. The grapes come from old vines, 30 to 60 years old, planted at 400 to 500 metres. It's a field blend of Rabigato, Códega, Gouveio, Viosinho, and a few others you've probably never heard of. That's fine. Neither had I.

He crushes, destems, presses everything together, lets it ferment with native yeasts, then ages it for a year in used French oak on the lees. No malolactic, no stirring. Just time. Pear blossom, gooseberry, green fig, lemon. The palate is stony and tight, with grapefruit pith giving it structure, and a long, saline finish. Every time I see this wine on a by the glass menu, I order it.