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
