The Grape 

 The hondarrabi zuri is a Spanish white grape variety. Its worldwide cultivation is limited to just over 700 hectares located in the Basque Country, in the north of Spain. A few decades ago it was practically extinct.

 

It is a late budding white grape so there is no risk of spring frosts. It has good fertility but low yield in pressing. It is sensitive to mildew and botrytis, so it is necessary a great aeration of the vine in order to avoid it. 

The clusters are small and compact, with spherical, golden-green berries with brown dots.

 

The wines have intense aromas of pear and exotic fruits, as well as citrus, herbaceous and floral nuances, with notable acidity and medium to moderate alcohol content.

 

The vineyard

 

The Getariako Txacolina appellation is one of the smallest in Spain. It only has  433 hectares.It is located in the town of Guetaria (a town known for being the birthplace of Juan Sebastian Elcano, the first sailor to circumnavigate the world in 1522).

 

The cultivation of vines and the production of wine go back to the beginning of time. There are documents dating back to 1397 in which the protection of the local vineyards is already being legislated.

The vineyards extend along gentle slopes until they almost reach the Cantabrian Sea. They are planted on trellis training to improve aeration and expose more leaf surface to the sun.

 

The Gañeta winery is located in the Agerre-Goikoa hamlet, between the San Prudentzio and Askizu neighbourhoods in the municipality of Getaria. The family has been winemaking since the 19th century and Julián Ostolaza Manterola founded the winery in 1992.

The process

The grapes are harvested at the beginning of October before the grapes are fully ripe. The aim is to produce a light, fresh, saline wine with  great aroma. 

Once the bunches have been destemmed, they are carefully pressed with a low yield to obtain the free-run juice, the lightest, palest, most aromatic and elegant must. 

It is fermented slowly in steel tanks at a controlled temperature of 12-14 degrees to retain most of the aromas. After a month, it is filtered and bottled. The result is a wine of only 11 degrees of alcohol, fresh and ideal for the summer.

 

A refreshing and summery wine

Ideal wine to garnish the summer, perfect to start with food. Highly recommended for your pool parties or summer brunches, with elegant and light dishes. It is a very good remedy in hot weather... Its acidity and salty and bitter tip will awaken our appetite and is the perfect prelude before a meal.

It goes well with anything to which we could add lemon or which has a salty sensation. Seafood, white fish, goat's cheese, tabbouleh, summer salads, sushi...

 

...................................................................

Recommended Pairing

Options for your shopping list:

Oysters, fried calamari, steamed mussels, white fish, seafood, sushi, basmati rice, goat cheese, salted fish, breaded chicken, salads, grilled vegetables.

 

 How can you share the experience about this wine

 Visual

Visually it is clean on the surface and transparent. Very pale greenish yellow colour. We can appreciate the bluish tones on the rim of this wine, which indicates tha is in a youth period... What can you see?

 

 

..................................................

 

All content about tasting for wine geeks

 

Tasting 

Visually it is clean on the surface and transparent. Very pale greenish yellow colour.

Fresh and clean on the nose. Pungent sensation - lots of green apple, freshly cut grass and saline notes. After swirling the glass and leaving it to settle for a few moments, white flowers (elderberry), green banana peel and hints of citrus and ginger appear. As it pauses, creamier sensations of bread dough and raw cereals appear.

The palate is sharp and dry. A huge citric acidity stands out, which is made more evident by a sparkling carbon dioxide that emphasises its freshness. In the background, saline bitterness of endive and unformed green almonds.