"What is Txakoli" you ask?…read more Well the easy solution is to contact Jon Oliden, Basa-Lore's Marketing Manager, next time you are in the Basque Country and have him give you a tour of this wonderful family owned winery so you can both taste their delicious products and learn about the history of this wonderful and different wine. Txakoli is a dry and slightly sparkling Basque wine. It has somewhat of a high acidity and is low in alcohol content. Basa Lore has been producing Txakoli since 1930s mostly for local consumption, but more recently they have expanded and not produce it at a higher capacity. The winery is located in the beautiful hills near the town of Zarautz and is a through back to what is quickly becoming a more commercial industry.

A classic example of a small provider of beautiful Txakoli wine from the Getaria (DO) region. The…read morewinery was founded in the 1930's and has produced txakoli for several generations. It has its own vineyards and since 1989 it has been incorporating equipment and modern machinery to produce a txakoli of excellent quality. Its txakoli has a delicate white fruit perfume, is balanced and offers a pleasant fresh finish. Because it is from the Getaria DO, it has a fizz to it when poured a foot above the glass and a pleasant saltiness which goes great with Spanish cuisine. The salt is actually incorporated into the skin of the grape as the daily fog drifts over the vineyard with the Atlantic Ocean only a mile away. Basa-Lore is Basque for "Forest Flower". The wine has fresh green tones, the fine bubbling that it gives off when it falls in the glass reminded us of the sound of the wind when it hits the leaves of the trees. Refreshing in the front palate, it explodes in the mid-palate and supports a long finish owing to the hint of salt. Marketing Manager, Jon Oliden, provided an extensive tour of the vineyard, the village and ocean views from the hillsides and a wonderful discussion about the novelty of the grape varietal and the method of growing/harvesting. Inside the production facility we sampled from the barrels and bottle. We tasted two white Txakoli and a red (blush) one. All were very pleasing. Jon, himself, prepared local products of sardines, fresh caught tuna and a tiramisu for taste pairings with the wines. The wines are available in the USA through Travis Vernon at Well Crafted Wine & Beverage Company +1 571-359-6227. Do yourself a huge favor and contact Jon Oliden for a visit through their website. Highly Recommended.

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.

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.

Enjoyable tour of a large production winery. The barrel room and bottle room are absolutely huge…read more The winery sits in middle of the grape vines and they offer a great place to sit outside to enjoy a small bite and a glass of wine. I took the English tour. The tour guide was super friendly and very knowledgeable. The winery is one of the most sustainable wineries in Spain, possibly at top the the list. I highly recommend a visit when in the Logroño area.

What a place and what an experience at Campo Viejo. The number one thing was service service…read moreservice. We basically closed down the winery that afternoon and we left because we wanted to, because they would have continued to serve us, that's how great the staff was. Now let's talk wine, I love wine but don't knwo much about specific wines, however I didn't need to know the staff was knowledgeable for both of us. The tour was great and the tasting even better. They were not shy with the portions. The tasting also includes some snacks, they do not serve food so make sure you are not expecting to eat there. The views were phenomenal. We didn't get to do a walk of the vines because of the heat. Would have been added bonus to so that, nonetheless they allowed us to get near and see them and take photos which was perfect for us. Overall a great experience!!! Would go back when visiting that area or Spain. Will be buying the one state side as well!!!

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.

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!

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.

Beautiful ! Make sure you book a tour and spend some time at the wine bar after. Gorgeous property,…read moreexceptional wine, and friendly people. Cannot recommend this enough.

We worked with the representative Natalia to make arrangements for a tasting. We were very…read moreimpressed by the grounds and buildings of the facility. We were greeted by a employee who hosted the tasting. We tasted four reserva/gran reserva wines and found that the traditional Old World method of making these Riojan wines really did not match our palates. We are used to more rounder wines with less astringency. During the next week and 25 more La Rioja wineries, we would find the sharp demarcation between traditional wines and wines made in a more "modern" way (their term) which would match better with palates more accustomed to New World wines (more fruit and more fruit forward). These were certainly elegant wines and would be spectacular with the right meal. Drinking them without a meal left us wanting something different.

This winery has a really nice setting. A very stylish, modern tasting room and a very nice area to…read moresit outside, with a very relaxing feel to it. Since we were travelling with our Bulldog we took a seat outside and got some wine (with free nibbles). The wine was fine, got the typical Rioja flavour. But - compared to some other Bodegas we've visited - lacked a special something. Did not wow us enough. Prise-wise their wines are a good deal, but then there's so much competition around here. And considering that we just found the wine too average and quite light on the palate without any long-lasting flavours. But the setting is really nice, staff helpful and friendly. Still a fine Bodega to take a seat outside and enjoy a glass or two.

OK folks, this is simply the best wine made in Haro. Why? They have been doing it longer than…read moremost, doing it as a family, doing it with much longer aging in the oak barrels than any other winery in Haro and it results in fabulous wines. This family-owned winery makes highly individual wines in a style essentially unchanged since its inception in 1877. They grow all their grapes using organic methods, ferment using only natural yeasts and do not filter their wines. They employ four full-time coopers to make their barrels. Gravonia, Tondonia, Bosconia and Cubillo are all individual vineyards which have been in the family for generations. Patience is a family watchword, as this bodega thinks nothing of waiting twenty years before releasing a wine. Their "Crianzas" are aged like others' "Reservas"; the "Reservas" as long as others' "Gran Reservas"...and the ultimate accolade of "Gran Reserva" is accorded to only the very greatest vintages. Rarely are there more than three of these in a decade We did not tour here because we were blitzing through all the Haro wineries in one day. Take the tour because they have their own barrel-making operation. The only winery in La Rioja who does that. We spent 3 weeks in La Rioja tasting at 30 wineries and this is either #2 or #3 out of all of them. The price point in country is higher than most and for a damn good reason. They make spectacular wine. Do not waste your palate or your time/money with other wineries in Haro that cater to the blue-haired bus tour groups. This is wine heaven. It can be found in the US at specialty shops at a price level above $40 for the Crianza and above $50 for the reservas.

Tucked below the 1* Eneko in Larrabetzu, which is the old locale of 3* Azurmendi, is Eneko Atxa's…read moreUncle's winery. Of course wine is made for the various Eneko restaurants worldwide and those grapes in the immediate area are only for the current Azurmendi further up the hill. Otherwise they source grapes from the surrounding area of Bilbao to make the Txakoljna wines of note. If you decide to check out their operations they give tours before lunch most days and can precede a meal at Azurmendi or Eneko. Last time i was in the area the airline left my bags in Barcelona. So I showed looking like I came out of a hostel with nothing but my backpack and ended up waiting at Azurmendi when I should have been below at the winery before lunch. This time I made sure to be at the right place on time and had a wonderful tour. If you're a culture and wine lover this is worth a visit to learn about Basque food ways