Agerre, Txakolina

Agerre have been growing grapes in the family owned, single vineyard in Getaria for three generations. Emilio Agerre is the winemaker and currently runs the winery with the help of his wife and son. Annual production is just 12,000 cases.

The Atlantic environment is the perfect habitat for growing the Hondarribi Zuria grapes used to make Txakoli. The soils are sandy loam over gravel and the steepness of the coastal hills allows further good drainage. The vines range from 10-30 years old, and are trained to a height of around 6ft. helping to avoid moisture from the ground and maximise ventilation.

Txakoli (pronounced ‘Tcha-Ko-Lee’ and also seen as Chacoli) is a slightly sparkling, very dry and very crisp white wine with a comparatively low alcohol content. It is produced entirely in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country.

Txakoli is not a fully sparkling wine but has a natural ‘spritz’. It is traditionally poured from head height into the glass held at waist level – this flamboyant serving aerates the wine and helps add a certain ‘sparkle’. Txakoli is perfect light drinking and, for the Basque people, often accompanies seafood pinchos.

The Hondarribi Zuria grapes are fermentation in whole clusters, which allows for more dynamic flavours. Native yeasts are used and there is 6 weeks of contact with the lees.