When the national drink of the Basque Country, Txakolí (chalk-oh-lee), is served, one and all pause…read moreto admire the performance. The seemingly flat sparkling white wine explodes with carbonation when decanted, using an enthusiastic overhand technique. Leave the champagne flutes and coupes on the bar as this rustic, straw-colored beverage refuses anything but an oversized tumbler. Txomin Etxaniz Winery's version excels at cleansing the palate between bites of flash-fried or salty foods.

If you're in San Sebastian and have a car, I recommend stopping by Txomin Extaniz…read more Once you arrive, you might be greeted by one of the owner's sons Mikel who is charged with many duties, among them giving the English speakers a tour of the winery and also a tasting of housemade anchovies, bread, Txakoli and rose. I much preferred the Txakoli as it was more fragrant and went home with two bottles. Note: You need to make an appointment before you visit. Also, if you're like me you will get lost so pay attention to the signs while you're driving. The winery is located down a steep hill with captivating views of the sea.

Bodega Berroja is a beautiful property that begs to be visited. The grand vistas are stunning,…read moreespecially on a rare clear day. We were fortunate to have coordinated our visit with Natalia and her tour of the vineyards, processing area and the tasting room was memorable. It was a perfect start to a day of exploring the countryside of Biscaya, including Gernika. The photos tell the story better than any words I can use. Txakoli primarily comes from three territories of the Basque region: Gipuzkoa, Biscaya and Alava. There are DO certifications in each of these areas which regulate the style and quality of the wines. Production from the 3 regions is under 2 million bottles. It is a white wine of great popularity for eating pintxos as it has a high acidity which cuts thru the fatty foods and oils used in that cuisine. Of particular note are the Txakoli wines from Getaria DOC in Gipuzkoa, which are poured about a foot above the glass allowing them to effervesce (bubble) in the glass and give off a wonderful fresh leafy perfume nose. 90+% of the wines are white. The white variety uses the grape Hondarribi Zuria, the red grape is Hondarribi Beltza. Do yourself a huge favor and visit Bodega Berroja. Slow down and appreciate the effort that has been used to make this beautiful facility and equally beautiful wines.

We enjoyed an amazing lunch here. We sat in the beautiful quaint courtyard on a lovely afternoon to…read moreenjoy all their specialities including the carpaccio of red prawns that melted in your mouth, glazed crispy suckling pig so tender inside, savory black pudding ravioli with truffle and incredibly flavorful ribeye. We ended the meal with a tasty hot apple cake with vanilla ice cream. Each dish raised the bar. Service was attentive but non-intrusive.

Food was very good- we had a number of dishes and particularly enjoyed the rice with clams, baked…read morecrab and turbot. The wine cellar is out of this world- probably one of the best in all of Spain if not the world. Definitely worth coming here if you love wine from the old world - ask for cellar tour at the end of your meal.

I've been on many wine tours in my time - Napa, Tuscany, Bordeaux, etc. - and I must say, this tour…read morewas truly something special. Inma, our guide for the day, was the best tour guide I've ever had; yes, THE BEST. She's truly an expert when it comes to Rioja - we found she often knew more than the wineries' own tour guides! And, importantly, she caters the experience to each client (and I should mention she speaks absolutely perfect English). Sure, she'll take you to the bigger, more commercial wineries like Marques de Riscal & Bodegas Ysios, which are both visually stunning and worth going to - but, because she takes the time to learn your tastes she'll introduce you to wineries right up your alley that you'd never otherwise know about, many of which aren't open to the public. And thanks to her local roots & connections, the vintners quite literally give her the keys to their private operations (Gontes comes to mind). Inma caps the day with a delicious late lunch in a private wine cave at Castillo de San Vicente - again, not something you can just go and do; only the locals have access. The cherry on top: her tortilla de patatas is absolutely delicious. All in all, one of the best single days I've had on vacation my entire life. A fantastic experience that I'd recommend to absolutely anyone.

Incredible Rioja Wine Experience with Inma-…read more My boyfriend and I did the Unusual Suspects private tour with Inma. This experience was the highlight of our trip to Spain and a huge part of that was Inma. She taught us about Rioja wine and the region without overloading us with information, made us feel so comfortable, and the experiences at the incredible wineries were due to her relationships with each of the owners, which is a testament to her as a person. We visited three different wineries and had the best lunch that Inma prepared herself with fresh ingredients from our own garden. My boyfriend still talks about her Tortilla de Patatas. We had an additional day in Logrono before heading to San Sebastian and Inma sent us a detailed list of recommendations and even helped us book a bus to San Sebastian, which was a much better option than the train we had booked. I cannot praise Inma and this experience enough.

Our amazing travel agency, shout out to Spain Unspoilt, set up all our local San Sebastián tours…read morewith Basque Tours and they were just perfect. We started off our trip with a 3 hour pintxo tour with their newest employee, Guillermo. However, you would never know he was new based on the way he knew the art of pintxo hunting. We put what we learned from him into practice the duration of our stay and it was such a fun night. The next day we were a little hungover (thanks Guillermo :)) for our wine and cheese tour with Juan. But Juan couldn't have been more patient with us and shared had so much knowledge to share about a cheese farm, winery and local fishing town. He was also super fun to spend the day with and so lovely to chat with. And then day 3 was spent with a lovely Australian Andy who has made Basque Country his home with his Basque wife the past 16 years. He took us to 3 villages (one in France and 1 in Spain) and taught us so much about each village. It was a fun, relaxing day and super cool to see the Basque Country beyond San Sebastián. We had fun exploring San Sebastián our own, but loved having these 3 days with such fun, warm guides. Highly recommend for anyone visiting San Sebastián and have a feeling any of their tours are great based on the 3 we encountered.

I cannot stress enough how amazing our day with Basque Tours was, specifically our day with Andoni!…read moreIf you're looking to book a wine tour this is definitely the company for you. Andoni told us all about the region, the wine varieties, and the strict regulations for La Rioja. In addition to just being a really cool, chill, guy with tattoos in honor of Pearl Jam, Andoni was a great story-teller as well. We learned a ton from him but also just enjoyed the time we had to chat. We're big wine-lovers and go to Napa on the regular so we really appreciated a tour that let us try several wines at several places and spend a good amount of time learning. I loved that some of the tastings were more formal and some were more casual. PLUS we got to check out the awesome village of La Guardia, have some amazing chorizo, AND had a tasty lunch in a wine cave. One of the best days of our vacation for sure. Many of the wines we tried are distributed back in the US which was great news for our luggage weight limits. We ended up buying a few cheaper bottles that weren't available back home because the quality was excellent and they were so affordable! I mean, like a half case for what we pay for a bottle in Napa. CRAZY. We are both so happy to finally have some smarts when it comes to ordering Spanish wines from La Rioja AND we're thrilled to have some great wine to share with the family this coming Thanksgiving. Thanks, Andoni!

This winery was one of the best and definitely in the top 3 vineyards that I visited in the area…read more Tasting room nicely decorated with great selection of wines to take home with you. The hosts there were knowledgeable in their wines and professional. Highly recommend a visit here.

Visited Bodegas Muga with some friends from Barcelona, and had a great tour…read more Our tour guide, Sasha was very good, and for an English tour, she did amazing. During the tour, we got to see an active, working winery... From the fermentation to aging to bottling, which they were doing as we visited. We also got to see the wine cemetery and the barrel cooperage areas. The end of tasting was well balanced with a white, young red and a Crianza. We also, tried a Grand Reserva Vino Tinto afterwards in the tasting room. Well worth the $ for the tour, plan on 2-2 1/2 hours.

From the owner: El TXOTX es un fenómeno de la cultura gastronómica de nuestra Sagardoa(Sidra Natural Vasca), nace…read morede la cata que realizaban los clientes a la hora de comprar. Antiguamente las bodegas de producción no disponían de medios para poder conservar la Sagardoa durante todo el año en la kupela(barrica), por lo que el cliente entre finales de invierno y principios de primavera(periodo actual de TXOTX), debía hacer acopio de la Sagardoa embotellada para todo el año. Ante las diferencias de calidad que presentaban entre unas kupelas y otras, el comprador cataba el contenido de cada una buscando los mejores caldos, hasta cerrar el trato de compra de Sagardoa embotellada. La Sagardoa(Sidra Natural Vasca) es producto del año, de modo que la sagardoa que tomamos cada año de finales de Enero en adelante es una nueva bebida que acaba de nacer, con las características que le haya aportado el año climático a la manzana de la que proviene. Esto le da a nuestra bebida un encanto especial. Los meses de Febrero, Marzo y Abril, excepto sábados y festivos, Zapiain abre las puertas de su bodega a amigos, clientes y visitantes en general, de 8 de la tarde en adelante, para que en ambiente único puedan disfrutar bebiendo la nueva Sagardoa directamente servida de las kupelas por el propio bodeguero. Se cena de pie en la misma bodega, con los platos tradicionales que acompañan a la Sagardoa: tortilla de bacalao, bacalao frito, chuleta, queso y nueces. Se puede adquirir Sagardoa embotellada todo el año.

I seriously can't recommend Ostatu enough. family run, organic practices followed, amazing list of…read morewines, and kind employee team- what more can you ask for. I can't wait to go back and I'll treasure the gran reserva and other special wines I brought back to the US. The tasting room is gorgeous and so peaceful.

We found this charming little winery with Basque Tours and had a great time. In addition to a half…read morecase of the Tinto, we nabbed ourselves a glorious magnum of Rioja all at a fraction of the price we'd pay in Napa, CA. The also have an excellent Reserva (100% Tempranillo)...heck we didn't have a single thing we didn't enjoy! I just saw on their FB page that they now have a Rose! Jealous I didn't get to try that. I'm sure it's excellent. It was a bit on the cold and rainy so we didn't get to enjoy the charming outdoor patio (pictures uploaded) but the tasting room was cozy and our server spent a good long time with us telling us the story of the vineyard and the grape sources. I wish I could remember her name after all the wine, because she was quite a good hostess! Pro tip: Leave room in your suitcase for this delicious wine.

Beautiful winery! If you don't have time for a full tour, make a reservation for the wine bar and…read morehave a flight. Be sure to enjoy the courtyard!

An upscale winery in Haro. Very polished and refined approach. Several red and white wines…read moreavailable for machine pour in sample or glass size. Buy a card from desk and help yourself. Staff can also answer questions. Prices were very reasonable. We purchased a bottle of Vendejo. I believe there are tours available but we did not take one.