OTHER GASTRONOMIC TOURS

Txakolí is a young and fruity tasting white wine. It has an average alcohol content (9.5º – 11.5º) with a touch of acidity giving it its character. A wine with a lot of personality. Best served cold, and due to its special viticulture, along with small its carbonic bubbles, releases all its full fragrance.

A young wine by tradition.

Using two grape varieties, Hondarribi Zuri (occupying 95% of the vineyard), and Hondarri Beltza (the remaining 5%); on the trellises and the grapes grown in the forest we make Txakolí de Getaria.

A very careful grape harvest is carried out in early autumn, always seeking a balance between sugar and acidity, and using modern technology for pressing and fermentation. This is how the new grapes are conscientiously prepared to make Txakolí de Getaria.

For centuries cider has been the livelihood of our nourishment, and we owe a significant part of our culture to cider. Cider has been established in the Basque Country for thousands of years, as is shown in the texts, contracts and old place names. The apple orchards have lined our mountains for many years and our institutions have protected these trees and the cider itself with considerable care, as stated in the Provincial Laws of the different territories and regulations of the different municipalities, to the extent that people could be hung if they destroyed an apple tree.

Looking back at history to the Basque Country’s golden age, linked to the sea, cider was the seafarers’ and the entire onshore industry’s only drink. During the cod and whale fishing, cider was present on the fishing vessels in the North Atlantic and, after that, cider was drunk on the Basque ships sailing to America. Two to three liters per day were required for each sailor. Thanks to the cider, the Basque sailors were not frightened of the dreaded scurvy. These ships were used to sell our renowned iron and to export necessary supplies. The industrial, merchantile and urban society that lived through the golden age of the 16th and 17th centuries would not have been possible without cider. In order to satisfy the enormous demand for cider, giant machines were built to make cider, namely, the gothic cider presses of the homesteads.

Thanks to our climate the apple orchards thrive very well here, several other things have also been made using apples as well as cider, such as apple juice or apple compote.; apples have provided and continue to provide a lot of products.

When the decline of the golden age in the Basque Country arrived, it caused a drop in the production of cider, as well as in the massive surveillance of the apple orchards. However, the cider house sector is slowly but surely recovering itself, efforts are being made for this custom and beverage so deeply rooted for thousands of years can be made available to the public. Significant steps have been taken over the last few years in order to recover the local apples and search for a quality product.

So, remember, when we drink cider we are not only drinking a refreshing beverage, we are drinking a something that is part of the culture and history of our country, a drink that has not only been linked to the homestead, but also to the sea and the town.