Luis Seabra Mono A Tinto Alfrocheiro Dão 2021

After a decade as winemaker at Niepoort, where he was behind some of the best-known and most highly rated wines to come out of the famed Douro and Port producer, Luís Seabra decided he no longer wanted to make wine to someone else's brief. So he started his own eponymous winery, setting about upending expectations of what Douro wine can be. He's a genuinely gifted winemaker — one who treats wine as a medium for land to speak through, rather than a vehicle for a house style.

Made from the local Alfrocheiro variety, this is part of Seabra's ongoing celebration of indigenous grapes — fresh, bright, organically farmed, with no additions. A pure expression of Alfrocheiro, showing dried Mediterranean herbs, black cherry and a balsamic touch on the nose. The palate is medium-bodied and delicate, with super-polished tannin and an elegant, fruit-driven finish.

Precise and refreshing, tart with cherry and cranberry, but it's the graphite-like minerality, the sharp cut of fine, emery-board tannin, and a serious dose of alpine herb, bramble and garrigue that really sets this wine apart. The texture sits on a razor's edge — incredibly bright, with exceptional length and fine detail. Genuinely revitalising to drink, with real presence and energy.