Turn up at a Basque cider house in July and the barrel will not be open. The txotx season runs from mid January to late April, and outside it the same cider is poured from a bottle.
When is the Basque cider house season? From mid January to late April, according to Euskal Sagardoa, which is when cider is tasted straight from the barrel. More cellars now open from May or June too, but they serve bottled cider. The denomination groups 48 cider makers across three provinces.
Euskal Sagardoa is the denomination of origin for Basque natural cider made entirely from native apples.
Three and a half months of barrel
The season lasts three and a half months, from mid January to late April, and the point of it is that the cider is still working. It is drawn straight from the kupela barrel, poured at the shout of txotx or served in jugs and clear bottles.
What comes out is natural cider: fermented apple must with no added CO2, no water and no sugar, at around 6% alcohol, made 100% from native apples.
The custom is more than 70 years old and started as a buying trip. Innkeepers, gastronomic society members and enthusiasts went to pick, from the barrel, the cider they would later buy by the bottle. From May or June more cellars now open, pouring the bottled version.
The centre of the season is Astigarraga, in Gipuzkoa, home of Sagardoetxea, the Basque cider museum, and of the documentation centre on apples and cider run by Sagardoaren Lurraldea.
One hundred and fifteen apple varieties
The denomination admits 115 apple varieties, of which 24 are the most used, split between sweet and sharp. Every one of them originates in the Basque Country and has been kept and improved on farms for centuries.
That rule is the hard boundary of the certification: no imported apple qualifies, however good the cider. Each producer keeps favourites and lays out the orchard by variety, so each can be picked at its own ripeness.
Behind the 48 cider makers stand 248 apple growers working 500 hectares of registered orchard. 100 of those hectares were planted in the last five years, mostly in Gipuzkoa and with the provincial council of Gipuzkoa, which is one new hectare for every five already there.
Reading the red neck label
A certified bottle identifies itself at the neck, and the checks behind that are worth knowing before paying a premium for it:
- Red capsule and neck label, or numbered back labels, on standard bottles
- Gold versions of the same on the Premium range
- Physical, chemical and sensory analysis at the Fraisoro laboratories, the first laboratory accredited for sensory cider analysis
- Accreditation of the whole chain by Hazi Fundazioa, from orchard to bottling
That last body is the same foundation that audits txakoli wineries, as set out in the guide to txakoli from Bizkaia, so both Basque drink denominations run their control through one organisation.
Why one harvest doubles the next
Cider apples crop heavily one year and lightly the next, and the denomination documents two consecutive years that differ by more than half.
| Harvest figure | Big year | Following year |
|---|---|---|
| Apples picked | 5.5 million kilos | 2 million kilos |
| Cider made | 3.6 million litres | 1.2 million litres |
The big year here is 2019. That is a drop of more than 60% in fruit and two thirds in litres, and it is the reason the amount of Euskal Sagardoa on sale swings so hard between years. Projects to level the harvests are open but unfinished.
Planning a cider house visit
- Want the barrel → mid January to late April
- Travelling in summer → cellars open from May or June, pouring bottles
- Buying a bottle → look for the red capsule and neck label
- After the top range → the same marks in gold
- Watching the alcohol → natural cider sits around 6%
- Staying in Bizkaia → only four of the 48 are in the province
Doing it from Bilbao
Euskal Sagardoa groups 48 cider makers and they are not spread evenly: 42 are in Gipuzkoa, 4 in Bizkaia and 2 in Araba. Nine in ten sit in one province, which turns the cider house into a full day out of Bilbao rather than a dinner plan.
The four Bizkaia cellars are the short option, and Astigarraga is where the season concentrates. The denomination was born with the 2016 harvest and now covers producers from all three provinces, with the door open to the rest of the Basque Country.
Certified cider is also sold without leaving the city, in specialist shops and on market stalls. Their real hours are in the guide to Bilbao’s municipal markets and, for the old town, in the guide to La Ribera market.
For trips around the province itself, times and fares by operator are in the guide to getting around Bilbao and Bizkaia.
Frequently asked questions about Basque cider
When is the Basque cider house season?
From mid January to late April, according to Euskal Sagardoa. That is when cider is tasted straight from the barrel. More cellars now open from May or June as well, but they pour bottled cider rather than barrel cider.
How strong is Basque natural cider?
Around 6% alcohol, according to Euskal Sagardoa. It is fermented from natural apple must with no added CO2, no water and no sugar, which is why it is low in alcohol and carries its own aroma and foam.
What does the red neck label mean on a cider bottle?
That the cider was controlled from orchard to bottling and passed physical, chemical and sensory analysis. Euskal Sagardoa uses a red capsule and neck label or numbered back labels, and gold ones on its Premium range.
Can you go to a cider house from Bilbao?
Yes, but 42 of the denomination’s 48 cider makers are in Gipuzkoa and only four are in Bizkaia, so it usually means a full day out rather than an evening. Astigarraga, in Gipuzkoa, is the centre of the season.
A drink poured from a barrel for three months of the year is a calendar before it is a menu.