Luis Seabra Granito Cru 2024

Luis Seabra spent a decade at Niepoort before setting up his own project, working with local varieties and low-intervention methods to make wines with a strong sense of place. Granito Cru is a barrel-aged Albarino from Vinho Verde, in the granite country of the Minho in northern Portugal. The granite soils and cool, wet Atlantic climate give the grape its high acidity and stony minerality, the backbone of the wine. It ages twelve months in large old foudres, which allow slow oxygen exchange and lees contact to build texture and depth without adding oak flavour, since the big neutral vessels contribute no toast or vanilla. The result keeps the freshness of Vinho Verde while gaining weight and length. In the glass it is pale straw with green highlights, showing lemon, green apple, white peach and white flowers over a firm, stony minerality. The palate is precise and mineral, with citrus and orchard fruit, a fine leesy texture and a long, saline, gently grippy finish. Serve at around 10 degrees in a white-wine glass.