2025 Lasalde Elkartea Balea Getariako Txakolina

Hondarribi Zuri and its red cousin Hondarribi Beltza are the indigenous grape varietals of the Spanish Basque coast. Since at least the 1400s, these grapes have been made into a spritzy, high-acid white wine called txakolina. Much like cider in the inland, it was the every-day drink of the coastal Basques and especially popular among fishermen who traded parts of their catch for whole foeders to take out to sea. Whalers, whose voyages tended to be the longest, naturally bought and consumed the most. Thus, whaling and txakoli production became linked over the centuries; vines dotting the green cliffs were often trestled with whale bones, while barrels of wine being hoisted onto ships could be seen in the ports below. Today, the whalers are long gone, but they are commemorated in the logo of the most prominent txakoli appellation, D.O. Getaria and in the name of this wine, BALEA, which is the Basque word for whale.