D.O. Chacolí de Guetaria

The Basque Country’s fresh, white wine, called txakoli on home ground and chacolí elsewhere in Spain , is produced in the region’s three provinces. The DO, which encompasses the growing area in the province of Guipuzcoa (Gipuzkoa), is called Getariako Txakolina in Basque.

Until twenty years ago, good chacolí could only be found in the farmsteads (caseríos) where it was traditionally made. Today, assisted by new technology and the extraordinary gastronomic standards of restaurants throughout the region, the bodegas of Guetaria are enjoying a renaissance. In fact, this wine is tailor-made to go with the wonderful local fish and shellfish cookery . The small growing area and the wines growing local popularity provides little surplus to send abroad.

Locally, txakoli is poured an inch or so at a time into characteristic flat-bottomed tumblers and then drunk before it loses its sparkling edge, known as tximparta in Basque.