Basque region wine great by itself or with food

Greetings! I am hoping you enjoyed the previous wine column about Vernaccia.

Today, I’m back with another esoteric wine: Txakoli (or Chacoli). This wine is native to the Basque region, a geographic area located roughly along the Pyrénées mountain range, i.e. “Pyrenees” (no accent in English), between France and Spain.

By now you might be wondering if all I know are odd-ball wines that only wine nerds have heard about. Not so!

With the approach of fall weather, you will soon be reading about wines suitable to the change of season. But for now … here’s more on Txakoli!

Made from an equally esoteric Vitis Vinifera variety called Hondarrabi Zuri, as the previously elaborated upon Vernaccia, Hondarrabi Zuri is recognized as a grape that makes wine that’s clean on the palate, dry, slightly effervescent and with low alcohol content, but with substantial levels of minerality, salinity and acidity. Well suited to be sipped alone, it also goes well with cured meats, seafood and is a natural match for hard cheeses especially the excellent and very typical Basque sheep’s milk cheese called Idiazabal.

Better served well-chilled and preferably poured from some height into the glass, thus releasing a multitude of bubbles along with the full range of its aromas, like many other varieties, Hondarabi Zuri is also known by a number of other name variations, depending on its provenance. Some of the other names for this interesting variety include ondarrabi zuri, ondarabiya zuriya, ondarrabi txuri, ondarrubi zurilla, oudanabi, tocuri, txuri, zuri and zuria. Hondarrabi zuri is also synonym for the French grape Courbu Blanc.

Note: “Zuri" means "white" in the Basque dialect.

Want to try a good one I’ve enjoyed recently? Give the Aizpura Txakoli a try.

Aizpura Txakoli (Hondarrabi Zuri) 2019: Bright tone with fresh, elegant and fine bubbles, integrated in sophisticated fragrances reminiscent of green apples and field grapes along with a faint minty touch; the whole of it  presented with a slight greenish hue floating in a pale white robe. Dry in the beginning, harmonious in the mouth, it ends in a wide & aromatic finish.

Insider’s hint: Available on the wine list at Stout’s Signature at The Tobin Center.

Wine related questions can be addressed directly to me at [email protected].  

Until next time … Salud!