Hiruzta

Hiruzta is a Txakoli producer at Hondarribia in the Basque Country, on the Bidasoa estuary where Spain meets France.

Txakoli, or Txakolina, is the Basque wine: bone dry, high in acidity, low in alcohol and traditionally poured from a height into a wide glass to raise a brief spritz. It was nearly extinct in the 1980s, down to a few dozen hectares, before a determined revival; there are now three separate appellations, of which Getariako Txakolina is the largest.

Hondarrabi Zuri is the principal grape, and DNA work has shown it is not one variety but a group, several of them related to Courbu of south-west France. The vineyards sit on steep coastal slopes facing the Bay of Biscay, and the wine was made for the anchovies, hake and grilled fish of that coast.