Txakoli: Exploring Spain’s Basque Country Signature Wine

Ep 86

With its rise in popularity, I had a listener, Sheila, reach out to me wanting to learn more about Txakoli!

I didn’t know a lot about Txakoli until I started researching this episode and what surprised me most was that Txakoli is not a grape! It’s actually a style of wine, usually referring to dry white wine from the Basque Country of Spain. It’s known for being slightly sparkling, fruity, and refreshing.

In today’s episode, we will dive into the historical significance of Txakoli, as well as the winemaking techniques that bring out its acidity, refreshing fruity flavors, and slight effervescence which is perfect for pairing with a variety of foods. I’ll touch on the grape varieties, primarily the Hondarrabi Zuri for whites and Hondarrabi Beltza for reds, and how these grapes contribute to the overall experience of Txakoli.

So, if you are ready to dive into the world of Txakoli and discover what makes this wine so special press play and listen in!

Recommended Wine producers:

Txomin Etxaniz (Getariako Txakolina)

Rezabal (Getariako Txakolina)

Doniene Gorrondona (Bizkaiko Txakolina)

Malkoa (Arabako Txakolina)

Bodega Elizalde (Bizkaiko Txakolina)

Episode Highlights:

• Is Txakoli a grape or a wine?

• Where is Basque Country in Spain?

• Primary grapes Hondarrabi Zuri and Hondarribi Beltza

• Different regions of Txakoli - Getariako Txakolina, Bizkaiko Txakolina, and Arabako Txakolina

• Styles of Txakoli wine

• Tasting notes of Txakoli wine

• Recommended producers for Txakoli wine

• What foods pair well with Txakoli

Transcript

0:08

Hey. Probably back a bit. Okay. Recording episode 86 of the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. Welcome back to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. I am so glad you're here. If you're new, welcome. So excited to talk wine with you. And, of course, for those who have been joining for a while, thanks for sticking around with me. Today's episode, I am very excited for. It is our second ever listener request episode. So this one goes out to Sheila. She reached out to me and asked for a deep dive on txakoli. And this it's not doesn't look like how it's spelled. It's spelled txak I'm gonna do that one more time, Liz. It's spelled txakoli. So basically, that tx in the front makes like a c h sound, so txakoli. And she's been seeing it popping up more and more around her, and she was curious to learn more about it. So, of course, we need to do that. If you ever wanna request an episode or wanna learn about something here on the podcast, just send me a message. You can send me a message on Instagram at corkandfizz or send me an email, hayley@corkandfizz.com. There is no wine question that is too silly or too beginner to cover on this this show. And, of course, if you wanna do a deep dive into something more specific and, you know, getting really deep into the wine world, I would love to do that too. So first, we have to talk about chocolates. So at first, I was thinking that this would be a grape deep dive episode. I've done a few of these already. We've talked about Merlot, Cabernet Franc, I think Chardonnay, and maybe Chenin Blanc as well. I'm, like, trying to, like, think of all of them. You can go back and look them all up, in the previous episodes. I'm like, okay. Great. We'll do a grape another another continuation of the grape deep dive. And that's when I realized, chocolates is not a grape. It's a style of wine, and it usually refers to dry white wine from the Basque Country of Spain, and it's known for being slightly sparkling, fruity, and refreshing. So if you listen to this live, maybe doesn't quite fit the season now, but it's still a great wine. And then this way, you'll be ready to go in summertime to go look for a chocolat. But I have a feeling after listening to this, you'll wanna taste one now. You won't wanna wait. So instead of a grape deep dive, we're gonna do a wine deep dive. So let's dive into it. Good one. Right? Okay. Let's start with just some kinda like geographical context. Let's, you know, I always like to kinda like picture ourselves. Let's put ourselves there. Where is this wine from? So we talked about this wine is from the Basque region of Spain. Where is that? So Basque Country, Basque Region, it's spelled b a s q u e, Basque Country. It's an autonomous community that sits on the extreme western end of Spain's border with France at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains. Highly recommend check it out on a map. I know you're probably listening to this right now, but if you get a second, look it up. I think it'll kind of help you kind of picture where this is. Autonomous just means that they do rule themselves. Spain has a few of these regions. Galicia is one of them, boss country and then Catalonia, which is where a lot of cover comes from is also one. And the main things here is they, you know, they're still a part of Spain, but they they typically do a lot of governing themselves. They also have their own culture and their own language, which is why we see with this wine specifically, that tx, that is from the Bosque language or the language they speak. I can't remember if they call it Bosque or not. But the language they speak there, that is where that comes from, which is why you don't see that in Spanish. This region, it's also located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea, which is also called the Bay of Biscay. So this region is known for high rainfall, lush green hillsides, and picturesque coastline. And so what's interesting is that to me sounds very similar to another region in Spain, which is Galicia, which is where we find a lot of Albarino. So you ever heard of albarino? It's this high acid, salty, white wine, beautiful with seafood, comes from that Galicia region. So this area produces a similar style of wine, which makes sense because their geography is very similar. So the vineyards that produce the grape the the vineyards that produce the grapes for a chocolaty wine are in the northernmost area of Abbas country, and again, many along that coastline. And we'll talk about how that affects the style of wine more. Now super quick on the name specification because you're going to likely see a few different things and I kinda wanna make sure you have an understanding of what these things are. I'm also gonna say a couple different things on the podcast and I don't want you to be like, wait, did did Wodaw, what did she say? So you may also see the term txakoli, t x a k o l I, but with n a at the end, txakolina. This basically translates to the So they basically mean the same thing. If you're gonna you're gonna see them both. I'm sure people of past country would say that it's not the same thing and there is some very specific, thing different about them, but for the purpose of this podcast, are going to basically mean the same thing. You may also see spelt with a c h in the front and that's when it's written in French or Spanish. Remember that TX is from the Basque language, their autonomous community, they have their own language. The term comes from the Arabic word which means thinness, which again kind of reflects the style of wine that this is. So now that we kinda have an idea, chocoli, chocolina, we're gonna say both of those. Let's talk about history a little bit here. So, txakoli has been made in the Basque region of Spain from around 15th century, like, this specific style of wine. Now, winemaking in general here goes back to at least the 8th century, if not earlier. Right? But, Giacoli, for the longest time, was primarily just an easy fisherman's and farmer's wine. They were considered unattractive drinks with an uncontrolled and high acidity. And this was really up until about 30 years ago. So the first thing that kinda helped bring them to attention and bring them to the front, the forefront of the wine industry was the creation of the first DO for this wine. Now, DO in Spain, it stands for denominacion de origen, which indicates a protected geographical region for producing high quality wines. In the US, we call those AVAs. In France, they call those I'm blanking. Ah, okay. In France, they call those AOCs. So like Burgundy or Champagne or here in the US, we have Napa Valley, Walla Walla Valley. Right? These are all specific regions that produce a certain style of wine. They have certain rules they have to follow and they're basically guaranteed to produce a certain quality of wine. So our first d o dedicated to chocoli wine was created in 1990. Then basically kinda coming off of that, a revival at the turn of the millennium brought even more attention to this wine. There was more focus on precision vine cultivation, on hand harvesting. To be honest, not like they were really doing machine harvesting before then because they really can't. We'll talk about that. They also focused on better knowledge of the soil conditions and the climate characteristics. There was also a big interest in the culinary world as well. The wine pairs well with such a large array of food that you were finding these Michelin star chefs creating multi course dinners paired with different chocolis wines. So this really started to get focused, and it makes sense why our listener started seeing these pop up more and was like, hey, what is this? So let's dig into some grape and wine basics here. So like I said, is not a grape. It is a style of wine. It is made primarily from the grape called, the Han Derabi zuri. It's a native white grape to the Bosque Country. Now some people believe Handa Rabi Zuri refers to a family of grapes, and these include a grape called grape from Southwest France. This has been proven to be basically identical to the Handa Rabi Zuri grape, which is used in Basque Country. There are also 2 other Basque grapes, Crocen and Noah, that are believed to be kind of part of this family and that a lot of people or at least they say that, like, sometimes in Basque Country, if they call it Handa Ravi Zuri, it might be these other 2 grapes as well. So kinda gives you an idea. I think it just kinda means Zuri means white in Basque Country, so it's basically like the white wine of this region. Now they can also use Handerabi Belsa. Beltza is black. That is the red grape or the black grape of the region. Despite the similarity in names, not related to Hunder al Visore, that would be too easy, I guess, but it's basically just like the red grape of the region, right, versus Honduras, Missouri is the white grape. The Hondurabi Belta, the black or red grape is actually closely related to Cabernet Franc, and it is primarily used in rose and red production. And yes, there are rose and red versions of chocolat, though most of them are white. And this is where it kinda gets confusing. So you're like, you told me chocolaty was a white high acid wine from the Basque Country. It's like, yes. 90% of the time, that is true. However, you can also find date rose in a red version of this wine as well. So just pay attention to that when you're shopping for wine. So while most chocolis are made with either the Hana Rabi Zuri or the Hana Rabi Belsa, in 2021, the regulatory council approved blending with other grapes, and these include Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. They might not always be called these when you look on the bottle if they do say anything about these. I noticed that they all kind of had different names likely based on the region that they're coming from. So the 2 other red grapes they can include are Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. In terms of white grape, they can also use Feuillier Blanche, Grossmancang, Petitmancang, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Chardonnay. Though, again, primarily using those Handerabi Zuri and Handerabi Belsa grapes. And as I mentioned earlier, txakoli mainly refers to white wines. But you can also have red rose and sparkling versions of this. So, honestly, by the time thing like, anything that makes it to the US is primarily I've seen white and rose. I've never seen a red or sparkling, but maybe more of those are coming over here, so it could be fun to check it out. Now Now we already talked about there was one d l, remember one smaller region, created a denominacion de origen for Giacoli, but now there are actually 3 of them and the style of wine that comes from each one is slightly different. So when talking about what kind of wine you can expect, I think it's important to know what d o, what region did that txakoli come from? So we're gonna go through them in the order that they were created. So the first one, the one that was created in 1990 or established in 1990, this is d o, this is the d o that is Chocolina. And I might not be saying that first part. Totally correct. It is getaria k o, Getarico Chocolina. That k o at the end of that, term is actually equivalent to, like, apostrophe s in English. So it literally translates to remember, chocolina basically translates to the chocoli. And then so then if we're putting, like, an apostrophe s at the end of this term, it basically translates to the of And so they're basically saying, like, the region is and this d o is called meaning the from. Hopefully, that makes sense. I know it's a little harder listening to it than reading it. But we're basically talking about the region of and the that comes from there. 90% of the grapes here are located incredibly close to the Cantabrian Sea. They're planted in extremely sleep they're planted in extremely steep slopes. Remember when I said like they were like focusing on hand harvesting but also they really couldn't do anything other than that before. This is because of these steep slopes. You really can't take a machine down something that has an elevation or a slope like that. So hand harvesting is a must. Now if you've ever had a chakoli outside of the Basque Country, so if you did not travel to the Bosque Country and you just found a txakoli in a wine shop somewhere, it was very likely from this region, from the gittariaco chocolina. This region produces txakoli that has higher pH than the other ones, and it has that pronounced saltiness. It's almost like it has this memory of the ocean. These are going to have that slightly sparkling note to them. And note that it's primarily the chakoli from this region that have that. You can find chocoli that does not have that slightly sparkling. So these won't have like a cap like a champagne or even a prosaco would have, but they do have some carbon dioxide that is trapped during the wine making process. It's just not as much. So you can usually put a cork on these and not have a problem with them, like, popping off. These wines, if you've ever heard of txakoli, if you've been to, Bosco and seen them pouring this wine, it is often traditionally poured from a tall height, meaning they, like, lift the bottle up really high and they have the bottle down below, and they're pouring it from this tall height. And this is known as breaking the wine. There's a word in Spanish, Escanciar is what that, term means basically to break the wine, and it allows contact which with the air. Basically, we're aerating it and it enhances the aroma and flavors. And note, this is only done with the txakoli that has the slight effervescent. You don't wanna do it with ones that don't have any of that bubbly kinda spritziness to them. And again, the wines, the from these from this region are primarily going to be high acidity, low alcohol, and that slight effervescence. Very refreshing. Then we have the next region, this is the BizcaiccoChacolina and it basically means the chocolia of Biscay. Remember, the Bay of Biscay is right around this area. This was established 4 years later in 1994. This area tends to produce more complex wine. So a lot of these vineyards actually face south rather than facing the coast because they want to allow the grapes to ripen more fully. Remember, anytime we face slopes towards the equator, we're getting more of that perfect sunshine and right at the perfect times to ripen our grapes just like we want to. The wines here, some of the best, are often compared with the finest rieslings from Alsace, and these are not going to be effervescent. They're still gonna have that high acidity, still pretty low alcohol, though we're getting a little higher now, a little more of a richer mouthfeel. And we'll talk about winemaking styles in a little bit on, like, how we can do that other than just growing the grapes slightly differently. Now the last one is the Araboque Chocolina. This region was nearly lost. It was down to just 5 hectares despite a really long wine making history before it was saved, and they started making a lot of chocoli. And so now it is the smallest, d o for chakoli, but the fastest growing. So it was established in 2001. It is completely inland, so it is not along the coast, but it still is close enough to get that sea breeze. It is similar in style to our bizkaikos, so a little bit more complex. The grapes are gonna ripen more. We're gonna get a little more alcohol, thus giving us a little more body, and we're not gonna have that effervescence for the most part. Okay. Now that you know the 3 regions, again, keep an eye out for those when you are shopping for chocolat. Let's talk about the different styles of wine that chocolat can make. So the one that most people know of is this light, refreshing, fresh bottle of wine. Right? And this is chocoli that is fermented in stainless steel tanks. Some of that carbon dioxide is trapped during the wine making process. It's aged for maybe 6 months and it is bottled young. This wine results in a light refreshing, just like a wine meant to be drunk young. This is your like porch pounder. This is your like go to summer bottle, a great picnic wine as well. It's just light and fun. Now some are being made to be more complex. So they're doing this thing where they age on the lees. And if you've never heard of lees, so it's l e e s, lees. That is what happens to the yeast after it has done doing the fermentation. So in order to make wine, we add yeast to our grape juice, which has sugar or the yeast just exists on the outside of the grapes, and the yeast eats the sugar and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. When there's no sugar left for the yeast to eat, it essentially dies, and it becomes lees. And these lees end up giving the wine, if you leave them in there, certainly. Now this is interesting because some wines, the leaves won't be any good and you don't wanna add that flavor to it. But many wines, you can keep them in there. And if you stir them in with the wine or keep the wine in contact with them, it can give the wine a little bit of a richer mouth feel. So it, like, coats your mouth a little bit more, and it can also give it, like, bready taste, like brioche. This is what gives champagne that kind of brioche bready toast taste to it. And this is also if you, remember we talked about musk, I believe at some point on this podcast. They also stir in the leaves. It's called the batonage, so they can get that richer mouthfeel. You may also see them doing barrel fermentation instead of stainless steel. Those barrels again are gonna give it a little rounder feel, rounder taste. It can potentially give it a little flavor depending on how old the barrel is. Newer barrels give it more flavor. It might be aged a bit longer. And again, we're still gonna have that super bright acidity from the the grapes themselves, but it's gonna create that richer mouthfeel, the, like, heavier body. In terms of tasting notes, a chocoli is known for flavors of green apple, grapefruit, lime, salinity. So, like, this, like, saltiness, remember, like, the memory of the ocean, and sometimes a little bit of pineapple as well. And, of course, if you get one that has a little bit more of that complexity, you might notice brioche, you might notice some toast, maybe some yellow apple instead of green apple. Right? It's kinda died down a little bit. Generally, lighter bodied, lower alcohol. Now if you're curious, I did have to, like one question that I had. I'm like, okay. This is the white style of chocolates, but what does a red chocolates taste like? This was hard to discover, so you might have to do some research of your own. But the main notes that I got are pepper, current, and raspberry. And then for the Rose, which I have actually had a Rose chocolat, and that might actually be the first chocolat I ever tasted was a Rose. This is gonna have these really bright red fruits with citrus, and then I could have a really strong green pepper note, which is interesting because again, remember this red grape that is used in the red and the Rose, it's is related to Cabernet Franc, which is known for having this green pepper note to it. So this other wine that's related also produced that same flavor. In terms of cost, these are really affordable wines. I mean, I don't think I've ever seen one over $30. You know, 15 to$30 is all you're really gonna need to spend on these. They're meant to be drank young for the most part. In terms of pairing with food, seafood of any kind is gonna go with this. I love the rose with either, like, a shrimp taco or a carnitas taco. You if you are local to, you know, or if you take a trip to the Basque Country, you would see these wines paired with what are called tapas, which are just like little plates. And in bus country, they actually call those. And they're typically like a piece of bread with then, like, something on top of it, either, like, some type of seafood, some type of there's sometimes, like, an egg, like, omelet type dish called, tortillas. There might also be, like, a potato thing of some kind, but they're always just kinda, like, small dishes that you're meant to, like, have, like, multiple of them. And then they're paired with this, like, very simple, fun, effervescent wine. Also, we're work really well with, like, soft cheeses that are super creamy, because this is gonna balance it out. Right? That's kind of like a contrasting pairing in that situation. Okay. And before we go, I just wanted to give you a couple recommended producers to be on the lookout for. I'll also put these in the show notes just because I have a feeling listening to them is a little harder to tell what I'm saying. Because, again, these are all from the Basque country, so they're all or pronounced not maybe how you would expect. And I'm also probably gonna totally butcher it, but I'm gonna try my best. So the first one is a cholmen a chinese. This is from the that first region we talked about, Jatarico Cha Colina. They are kind of like the go to. Like, this is the one if you're ever gonna try any chocolina, any chocoli, you should try this producer. They are the most known and kinda like the most traditional. Then you have a Resibald, this is the one that I have tried before, and this is actually I've tried their rose. I don't know if I've tried their white, but I know their rose gets, imported into the US all the time. This is also of course from the Jatarico. Then you have Donnieene Gorondona. This is from the second region we talked about, Biscay Cocha Colina. And then there's also Bodega Elizalde from that same region. And then lastly, I wanted to give you a recommendation for the final region, and that is Malcoa. So that one comes from the Atabaco, Chocolina. Like I said, I'll list all these producers in the show notes as well because I know that's gonna be hard to try to try to remember. But if you give any of these a try or you find another chocoli, please send me a message. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear it. I think this is just such a lovely, fun wine. It's a great one to introduce to friends. And like I said, it is a perfect summer wine, but you don't have to wait for summer to enjoy it. Alright. That is our episode today. Thank you again to Sheila for the request on the podcast subject. Again, if you have recommendations or things that you want me to talk about and you wanna learn about, just send me a message. I'm so happy to put something together for you. And if you know a wine lover in your life who would enjoy this podcast, please share it with them. You can find your favorite episode or just take a screenshot right now and post it on your social media. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. I release new episodes every Wednesday. We are coming on, like, a year and a half of every Wednesday podcast. Isn't that crazy? In next year's episode, I will be sharing some of my favorite wine books, and I promise this podcast is not 2 hours long even though it could be because I have so many wine books. I've picked out my favorite, I think, 13 to tell you about. Thanks again for listening. And if you wanna learn more about wine, come follow me at corkandfizz on Instagram. And if you're interested in exploring new wines and joining an incredible community of wine lovers, be sure to sign up for my virtual tasting club, the corkcrew. You can head to corkandfizz.com/freeclasspass to come check out a tasting for free. Cheers.