2020 Xisto Ilimitado Tinto (red)
Luis Seabra Vinhos
Douro Valley, Portugal

In 2020 The Mono C and the Xisto Cru reds will not be made this year, so that juice went into this wine! Typically, this is a field blend of 7 varieties planted across the 3 subzones in the Douro, thus the name Illimitado.

This wine is more akin to a Northern Rhone in personality, akin to a wine from those steep terraced vineyards except this is schiste hard rock, not granite!

• 100% whole cluster fermented in in steel vat (25 days maceration)
• Racked to neutral barrel for 1 year followed by 5 months in tank.
• Sustainably farmed vineyards planted from 1960 to 1980 in schist soil at 400-600 m (1,232-1,968 ft) elevation.
• Grapes: 30% Touriga Franca, 20% Tinta Amarela, 20% Tinta Roriz, 10% Rufete, 10% Tinta Barroca, 5% Malvasia Preta, 5% Donzelinho Tinto. PLUS Castelao and some Alicante Bouschet in 2020
• 12.5% abv.

The 2020 Xisto Ilimitado is a blend of 30% Touriga Franca, 20% Tinta Amarela and 20% Tinta Roriz, with Rufete, Tinta Barroca and others filling out the blend, all aged for 14 months in used French oak. It comes in at 13.2% alcohol. The Mono C and the Xisto Cru reds will not be made this year, so that juice went here. This was only in bottle a week when seen, but it seemed to show plenty of potential for the price category. Tight and fresh, this finishes with some tannic pop and flavor, a nice combination, but right now it is mostly tight. This will likely seem better at the end of the year or in the middle of 2023. It should be a nice bargain.