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Tag: Txakoli

  • Txakoli Txabarri winery

    Pruning superfluous leaves

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    We met José Txabarri after having ascended a steep road from the Casa de Juntas de Avellaneda the most iconic building in Encartaciones, originally an Assembly Hall,the seat of the chartered political government for centuries, now transformed into a museum. Having crossed a big room in a large brick building full of machines, we followed Mr Txabarri to his reception room where all his wines were displayed and customers could savor the taste of his wines together with an accompanying meal.

    Originally, he worked at a paper factory and he started growing vines as a hobby in 1990 and his wife started the winery in 1995. All the time, he has been growing vines like Hondarrabi-zuri, Petit courbu or Xarratia or Zuri Zerratu, Petit manseng or Izkiriot Ttipi and gros manseng or Izkiriot Haundi in order to make txakoli wine, a very dry wine, usually white, acid and low alcohol content.

    This winery has won many prizes, the most recent being the Bacchus de Plata 2015 and they produce the following wines:

    • Txabarri White Extra
    • Txabarri White
    • Txabarri Red
    • Txabarri Rose

    After having tasted some of the wines,we joined Mr Txabarri in his car, in which we drove up to a vineyard where we also met his son Iker. As a demonstration, they showed us how they removed superfluous leaves such that lots of sunlight could reach the grapes. All the vines were growing very tidily, being supported by 8 wires in two rows, 40 cm apart with a maximum height of the vines amounting to 2.5 meters. Just above the vineyard, there was a grove of eucalyptus and Mr Txabarri told us that the vineyard we were watching had recently replaced another grove of eucalyptus. In fact. the Txabarri family sells a lot of txakoli and they want to expand further. Coming back in some years, maybe there won’t be any eucalyptus trees left in this area.

    Cultivation of the vines is not organic, but they try to use as little pesticides as possible. However, winds from the sea pass the vineyards, bringing humid air and causing mildew. Anyway, they’re trying to work with nature by letting bats, which live above the reception room, go hunting moths, which are eating the vines.

  • Axpe Sagardotegia winery and cider mill

    axpe_w500

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    The winery Axpe Sagardotegia is an enterprise run by the Axpe family, while the second name derives from sagardo, meaning apple cider in Basque. Besides, they are producing a slightly sparkling, very dry white wine called Bizkaiko Txakolina, meaning Txakoli of Biscay. In fact, this winery forms part of the Txakoli Winemakers´ Association (BIALTXA).

    According to the Tzakoli producers of Biscay, growing vines in this area are aided by
    – valleys and mountains stretching from northwest to southeast favour exposure to sunlight.
    – cool summers due to the nearby Bay of Biscay lead to a slow ripening process.
    – southern winds in autumn are ideal for ripening of the grapes.
    – a variety of soils, generally not very deep, slightly acidic with a clay-loam texture on limestone and marlstone.
    – a humid, warm Atlantic climate.

    The harvest had already been done when we visited this winery in the beginning of October, but walking along the rows of vines, we could find a few bunches of grapes. Besides, differing from the vineyards of Rioja, the vines were supported by trellises and there was fresh grass between each row, while there was bare soil between the rows of vines in Rioja. Another difference was that the harvest was manual in Rioja, while this winery harvested the grapes mechanically. This could be verified by looking at the harvested grapes, which were accompanied by much more branches and leaves than in Rioja. Else, the must of both apples and grapes were being stored in huge steel tanks where fermentation takes place turning must into cider and wine.

    Walking further, we could also walk among the many apple trees of this winery, and since lots of apples were still remaining, it was clear that at least 4 types of apple are being grown. A greenhouse with an abundant amount of vegetables was placed next to the apple orchard.

    Axpe also has a hall where visitors are welcome to taste their products.

    The owner of Axpe is a real actor, having participated in a lot of films, which can be watched here.