My First Thoughts
Today is my fourth day in San Sebastián, and all I got to say is wow. I am truly amazed by how beautiful this city is. From the churches to nature, each aspect of San Sebastián has captured my eye. My favorite part so far has to be biking to class. The ocean view is so refreshing and calming for me before I start my day. San Sebastián doesn’t fall short of its breathtaking views. Taking Spanish class at Lacunza has also been something I’ve been enjoying. My class is challenging yet manageable for me to understand. I still have over two weeks left in San Sebastián and I can’t wait to experience more things here.
On the Way
Today, I had the opportunity to visit a winery in Zarautz, a town in the Gipuzkoa province of the Basque Country. I got to go with session one, since this week session one and two overlap. This was so exciting because I got to meet more people outside of my group. As we drove to the winery, we came across beautiful landscapes in Zarautz. Every time I looked out the window, I would see a new hill, a body of water, or older-style buildings. The pictures that I took didn’t even capture half of its beauty. (I truly wish I could capture it to show everyone because it’s a sight that is unlike any other.). As we approached the winery, Professor Z pointed out Raton de Getaria, a mountain that got that nickname because it is shaped like a mouse. The real name is San Anto.
Winery Tour
Talai Berri Txakolina was the winery that I got to visit. The first part of the tour starts at the entrance where one of the sisters tells us their history. It started five generations ago, where the family originally made txakoli for their family and friends in their own home. It wasn’t until the 3rd generation that started making the txakoli to be sold. Currently, Talai Berri is owned by two sisters (5th gen).
Next we went downstairs to see the actual process of the txakoli production. Txakoli is a young wine, which takes less than 3 months to make. The Hondarrabi Zuri grapes are harvested in September and the wine is ready by December. The winery uses an automatic grape crusher, but what’s interesting is that for txakoli, the grapes aren’t crushed all the way to ensure that the wine maintains its fresh and vibrant character. Other txakolis are made with other varieties of grapes like the Hondarrbi Beltza grape. Then the grape juice moves down a pipe and into the fermentation room. Here, the juice is fermented in steel tanks at 17 degrees Celsius. Again, the wine itself is only fermented for a short period of time. Txakoli can only be consumed within a year or two after its production because over time, the contents of the txakoli (like the bubbles) will go away. After the fermentation is done, the txakoli is bottled, and then the bottles will be dried naturally before they get labeled. This ensures the labels stay on. The process is very simple but these small details ensure the best txakoli results. There are three types of txakoli, one from each of the three regions from the Basque Country: Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, and Araba.
Tasting the Txakoli
Finally, the taste test-what I’ve been waiting for since learning about its process. We all went up to the terrace where everything was set up perfectly. The views were even better up there. I could see even more of the hills stretching into the horizon. Occasionally, there are people who are on their “pilgrimage,” where they are just walking along the path under the hills.
The txakoli was brought out first. At first glance, it had a very light color. With my first sip, I got a slight bubbly feel in my mouth. It was crisp and refreshing, with a slight acidic and fruity taste. To accompany the wine, we had bread, cheese, chorizo, and tuna. I am not the biggest fan of cheese or tuna, so I didn’t reach for those. Next, we got to try some rosé, another white wine, and red wine (or as they call it black wine). I didn’t like the other wines as much, but I like the rosé more since it has a fruiter taste. We also got to try a grape vinegar with the bread, which was so good that I purchased it to bring back to share with my family! I had so much at the winery today, and again I can’t wait to do more activities in Spain!
