I do remember this wines from the time I was working in Stockholm, Sweden. Our chef at that time decided to make a three course menu from Basques. And as every Sommelier would react i started to look into the same region which wines or grapes are coming this rather unknown region. I didn’t even know where it is. One will start googling, take out the old books where it is and what is the story behind it. So I did, and found out that Basques is split into two countries Spain and France. But the wines called Txakoli are mostly coming from the Spanish part of Basques and is divided into three sub regions: Alavan Txakoli Biscayan Txakoli and Getaria Txakoli. Geographic shows it is immediate to the Atlantic coast, which brings wet and difficult weather to the vineyards. With time people realized that it would be better to grow the wines south facing slopes and on higher altitudes to get more sun influence and to escape the frost problems on lower levels of altitude.
The most grown varieties are Hondarrabi Zuri for the whites and Hondarrabi Beltza for the red. Both are a family of Vitis Vinifera and are quite unknown in the world of wine. However, the more important one is the white which produces a fresh crisp wine with citrus, herbs, flower and low in alcohol. Which make sense in terms of the climate conditions.
Flavor: Lime, Citrus, Lime peel
Acid: High
Body: light
Finish: Short
Sugar: Dry
Points 5 of 10