Luis Seabra has become a true superstar of Portuguese wine. His incredibly pure, elegant wines stand apart from the commercial products that dominate Portugal. But there is another, less discussed, reason to admire Seabra’s life work: his devotion to terroir.

Terroir enters the conversation when we talk about limestone in Burgundy, gravel in Bordeaux, or slate in the Mosel. Luis Seabra wants us to start thinking about Portugal's terroir. That's the point of his “Ilimitado” wines, where he blends together grapes grown in neighboring sites that share a common terroir.

Today’s wines feature high-altitude vineyards with schist soils. Schist — flaky stones and minerals sometimes compared to mille-feuille, texture-wise — is an important terroir element in Alsace and Priorat. As the Douro's dominant soil type, it retains water and heat — very useful at these high altitudes, where the evenings are quite cool and rainfall is scarce. Schist's natural looseness also allows the vines to dig deep. Unsurprisingly, “mineral” is the top flavor descriptor associated with schist.

And “mineral” is indeed what you get in both the red and white versions of Seabra’s Xisto Ilimitado. The white is a blend of indigenous grape varieties (60% Rabigato, 15% Gouveio, 15% Códega, 10% Viosinho) grown on particularly high sites (500m+). The mineral notes are complemented by a range of high-toned fruits, like lemon, apricot and green apple, and a texture-rich structure

The red wine has an even longer list of grape varieties (10% Touriga Franca, 20% Tinta Amarela, 20% Tinta Roriz, 10% Rufete, 10% Tinta Barroca, 5% Malvasia Petra, 5% Donzelinho Tinto). It ferments in traditional vats (including a vessel carved from stone) and is aged in old barrels. Again, it’s a wine with lots of high notes (blue and red fruits, cherries) interwoven with a soft texture.

Buy these for their elegance and purity at amazing price points; learn something about schist along the way:

Luis Seabra, Douro Xisto Ilimitado Branco, 2022 $29.99

Luis Seabra, Douro Xisto Ilimitado Tinto, 2021 $29.99