Luis Seabra Mono C (Castelão) | 2021

A grape prolific in Lisbon and the southern coastal regions of Portugal, Castelão from the Douro Valley is like seeing snow in Miami, rare but not impossible. And, if there’s one person to prove the impossible, it’s Luis Seabra. After a career as a soil researcher, enology instructor, and sought-after consultant winemaker, Seabra formed his own brand in 2013. For two decades, he has been one of the visionaries of the New Portugal renaissance, crafting wines of supreme elegance and refinement, while diminishing the old-guard stereotypes like, big and rustic. Mainly focused on the terroirs of the Douro Valley, Seabra’s wines are acoustic and beautiful.  

In a country known for field blends and complicated grape names, Seabra’s monovarietal series (there’s also Mono A) showcases the unique personality of underrated native grapes. Mono C is 100% Castelão from a vineyard planted in 1993, at 475-meters, in yellow schist soils in the “inferior” and much smaller, Baixa Corgo sub-region. An authorized grape by law, there is no other vineyard of significance planted to Castelão. Luckily, this extreme site is in Seabra’s hands who uses whole-cluster fermentation and 500L used barrels for aging to show-off Castelão’s darling red fruits, blue moods, and mysterious mole spice. The structure has just enough alcohol, acid, and tannin, to make it a serious wine, but it’s still soft and pillowy to make it a sheer delight. ~Allegra A