Tasty Txakolina from Basque Country calls for fish (#worldwinetravel)

“Fascinating” is an overused word, but it seems appropriate to describe the culture, language, wine and food of Basque Country (País Vasco in Spanish).

Fiercely independent and proud, the Basque people inhabit both sides of the Spanish-French border in the western foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. Many more live in Spain than in France.

Traditionally, Basques were farmers. Apple orchards and sheep pastures dotted the hilly and wooded countryside. But the sea beckoned as well. The region’s rich iron-ore mines led to the development of industry, particularly shipbuilding. Basques played a leading part in the colonization of the New World. They were among the first to engage in whaling around the Bay of Biscay bordering their lands and to explore the cod fisheries off Newfoundland. Cod is still a popular Basque dish.

Perhaps most fascinating about the Basques is their traditional language, Euskara, the only surviving pre-Indo-European language in Western Europe. Unrelated to the romance languages surrounding them – or to any other language in the world, for that matter – the mysterious Basque language is a point of pride. Today, the language survives, just barely, among approximately 35% or so of Basque people.

Most of us have heard of the famous Basque seaside town of San Sebastian, the winding streets lined with pintxos (tapas) bars. Or we may know that chefs from the Basque region have earned Michelin-rated status.

But let’s talk about the region’s Txakoli wines! Txakoli (pronounced choc-oh-LEE) is a Basque word that means “wine made from a village” – in other words, homemade wine. You’re invited to join the World Wine Travel bloggers on Saturday 6/26 when we visit the Basque Country as part of our yearlong, virtual deep dive into Spain. Simply follow the #worldwinetravel hashtag on Twitter, starting at 8 am PT/11 am ET.

Basque winemaking

Basque Country, an autonomous community in northern Spain, is known for its very dry, highly acidic, slightly spritzy Txakoli wines produced mostly from Hondarrabi Zuri, an indigenous grape. The variety is named for a town in the region, Hondarribia, and the Basque word for white, “zuri.” These wines are traditionally poured into tall glasses from a height of eight to 10 inches to enhance their effervescence. A very small amount of Hondarrabi Beltza, a red variety, is also produced.

Moist, cool air flows into Basque Country from the Cantabrian Sea, the part of the Atlantic Ocean that reaches Spain’s northern coast. High rainfall and low temperatures suit the typical Txakoli wine style but make it challenging to grow grapes. Basque farmers train vines high off the ground – using the same parra or pergola system found in Galicia – to keep grapes free of mold and mildew.

Txacoli wines are made in three Denominación de Origen geographically protected subregions (DOs) that differ slightly from one another. Txakoli de Getaria (or Getariako Txakolina) is the DO closest to the coast. The other two, Txakoli de Bizkaia (Bizkaiko Txakolina) and Txakoli de Álava (Arabako Txakolina), are further inland.

The winery and the wine
2019 Doniene Gorrondona Txakolina, DO Bizkaia

Doniene Gorrondona is located above the Bay of Biscay in the seaside village of Bakio. The Bakio valley creates a steeply-sloped bowl that faces the Cantabrian Sea. As De Maison Selections describes it, “vineyards are carved from the rock and surrounded by forests on one side and the ocean on the other.”

The name of the winery is a combination of Doniene, Basque for Saint John, the patron saint of Bakio, and Gorrondona, the name of the farmhouse built in 1852. The old Gorrondona farmhouse, now a wine cellar, was used by the family to make Txakoli wine. They started selling their wine in the 1970s. 

In 1994, the same year that the Bizkaia Txakolina DO was created and at a time when Txakoli winemaking was nearly lost in Bakio, a team of four – winemaker Itziar Insausti, journalist Andoni Sarratea, Itziar’s brother Egoitz and vineyard manager Julen Frías – took over winemaking at the Gorrondona farmhouse. Unlike producers throughout Europe, these four had no family winemaking tradition.

Today, the foursome manages more than 12 acres of vineyards, partly owned and partly leased, on the south-facing slopes of Bakio at altitudes up to 820 feet. Soils vary and grapes are hand harvested. In addition, Doniene Gorrondona is the only winery within the Bizkaiko Txakolina DO to have its own distillery and produce liquors.

Wines are fermented spontaneously using only indigenous yeasts. This wine rests on the lees (spent yeast cells) and undergoes a “gentle” secondary fermentation (the conversion of harsh malic to soft lactic acid) in the bottle.

Sources: BBC, Britannica, De Maison Selections, Doniene Gorrondona, Forbes, wikipedia, wine-searcher, wine-searcher, Wine Spectator

My tasting notes: Yellow-gold in color. Aromatic, citrusy nose with some apple and white flowers. Zingy, high-acid, light yet slightly creamy palate with minerality and salinity on a longish finish. Slightly fizzy but hardly perceptible. Alcohol: 11.5%. Price: $18.

Suggested pairings: I went down the proverbial rabbit hole when I started researching Basque cuisine. One recurring theme was fish, especially cod. This makes sense given Basque history. What I liked about the recipes online is that none seemed too difficult. Mostly they consisted of cod (duh), garlic, olive oil, parsley, and many of them called for jalapeño or some other hot pepper. I modified this cod in tomato sauce recipe from the Daily Mail. If I cook it again, I would modify it still further. Here’s what I’d do:

• Ingredients:
  4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  1 jalapeño, seeds removed and thinly sliced
  olive oil
  sea salt
  1 lb. cod, cut into 3 or 4 pieces
  plain flour, to dust
  ½ cup good-quality tomato sauce
  ¼ cup white wine
  4 slices roasted red pepper
  chopped parsley leaves, to serve

• Instructions:
  Slice the garlic and jalapeño.
  Fry for one minute in olive oil (do not let it get too golden). Set aside.
  Salt the cod steaks, dust them with flour and fry for two minutes on each side over a medium heat in the same oil.
  Add the tomato sauce and white wine. Place a roasted red pepper on top of each fish steak and sprinkle with a bit of the fried garlic and jalapeño.
  Sprinkle a bit of chopped parsley on top and let the whole thing simmer over a low heat for five minutes.
  Enjoy!

There’s a lot of good information and pairing ideas from all the World Wine Travel bloggers below. Check it out!

• Basque Country Means Pintxos and Txakolina by Jeff at Food Wine Click
• Fish Friday in the USA with a Spanish Txakolina Rosé by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Two Versions of Txakoli, Perfect Summer Wines from Susannah at Avvinare
• Pintxos and Txakoli – a celebration of Basque Country from Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles
• Almejas en Salsa Verde (Clams in Green Sauce) + 2019 Zudugarai “Amats” Getariako Txakolina from Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Basque Country Wines for Beginners and Great Food Pairings from Teri at Our Good Life
• Recalling Spain: Ameztoi Getariako Txakolina Rubentis and Shrimp from Martin at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog
• Tasty Txakolina from Basque Country calls for fish by Linda at My Full Wine Glass
• Basque’s Effervescent Txakolina from Gwendolyn at Wine Predator
• The History of the Basque Culinary World Prize by Jill on L’Occasion