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Txakoli: a visit by the Stages

1

Posted by admin | Posted on 16-03-2011

Category : BasqueStage

Tags: 2011, basque, free time, gastronomy

 

Yesterday the BasqueStage crew headed into the hills outside of Zarautz and Getaria to learn more about the special Basque wine, txakoli.  If you’ve never tried it, it’s a lightly sparkling white wine that is served across the pintxo bars in San Sebastián, always poured into a glass with flourish from an altitude that ranges from slight to frightening.  We visited the Bodegas Rezabal, run by Mireia Osinalde and Ander Rezabal.  From atop a hill striped with vines, the couple runs the bodega and produces txakoli they sell in Basque Country (with a smaller percentage going to other parts of Spain and tiny bit exported to Japan and the USA).

They showed around Athena and Tracy and a few friends from Martin Berasategui, explaining everything from the production process to the history. And quite a history it is….

….txakoli almost died out in the last century due to industrialization in the Basque Country and a grape sickness.  The granting of Denominación de Origen in the 1990′s, however, promoted a resurgence.  Now it is made in both Gipuzkoa province and Vizkaya. It is made with two grape varietals: Hondarribi Zuria and Hondarribi Beltza.

Rezabal’s owners showed everyone around the bodega, including an explanation of the flavors particular to the Rezabal txakoli.  The stages were even invited into the fermentation room and allowed a taste of the most recent pressing. Ah, the perks of being a stage in Basque Country.

Bodegas Rezabal: Itsas Begi 628, Asti Auzoa, Zarautz. Telephone: 943580899

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a trip to espelette

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Posted by admin | Posted on 08-02-2011

Category : BasqueStage

Tags: basque, BasqueStage, france, free time, gastronomy

wandering the streets of espelette

This weekend, the scholars headed north for a little hands-on research. Destination? Espelette, France, in the basque region of Lapurdi.   Reason? The Espelette pepper, of course.  This pepper is an A.O.C. (appellation d’origine controlée) designated product, so it is protected and regulated by the government for its special properties.  The pepper is grown around the town of Espelette, and every fall there is a festival to celebrate the pepper’s harvest and drying. You can see it hanging to dry on the houses around the town:

peppers etxea

After they hang to dry, they are further dehydrated over more intense heat, then crushed into the powder form that is commonly sold in markets in the south of France, Spain, and even in the US.  Piment d’Espelette appears on menus across the country in places like Per Se and other fine Mediterranean-inspired kitchens. The flavor is unique: spicy, but not too spicy, and with a hint of Spanish paprika’s smokiness.

paparrazi of espelette

Walking around the quiet village, the scholars were able to stop into several shops and check out some of the delicious Espelette products: pepper confit, foie preserved in pepper sauce, pepper jelly, cocoa with peppers, and cheese with peppers.  The AOC growing region is limited to the several surrounding districts, so after sampling a few more delicacies,  and the stages set off to glimpse the rolling hills and farmland of Lapurdi.  They stopped in nearby Ainhoa for an al fresco lunch of ham, peppers, omelettes, frites and wine–and to enjoy the 65-degree weather!

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