Although the winery was founded in 2014, Bat Gara (we are one, in Basque) originated a couple of years earlier when a group of friends hired winemaker and at that time consultant Roberto Oliván (Tentenublo, Rioja Alavesa) to manage the txakoli vineyards they owned in the Ayala and Arrastaria valleys, in the DO Arabako Txakolina.
Seeing the potential of the area and the possibility of producing quality wines (in 1877 there were 550 hectares of vineyards, which were reduced to 5 hectares in 1988), Oliván encouraged them to create a winery to make txakoli from their best vineyards. Thus was born the Goianea cooperative, with partners José Cruz Guinea, co-owner of Bideko restaurant in Amurrio, the farmer and wine grower Txema Gotxi and the priest Juanjo Tellaetxe. In 2015, Oliván left the project to focus on his own, while Tellaetxe quit the company soon after to launch Tantaka Wines, his personal winemaking venture.
Bat Gara owns six hectares of vineyards in Lezama, a village in Alava near Amurrio, between the Sierra Salvada and the foothills of Mount Gorbea. The area's climate is Atlantic - albeit with some continental influence - and rainfall is abundant (around 900 mm).
Their two main vineyards are surrounded by pine and oak trees in a green and wild mountainous scenery. Arrugalde, owned by Guinea, is a two-hectare plot planted in 2008 with Hondarrabi Zuri, Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia and Riesling. Budding occurs late but the clayey soils, the elevation (400 m) and yields that do not exceed 6,000kg/Ha mean the grapes ripen well and maintain acidity levels that can exceed 8g/l. Finca Urtaran, with unbeatable views of the Sierra Salvada on the border with Castilla-León, lends its name to one of the Bat Gara wines and is also the place where Gotxi built his house. Planted mainly with Hondarrabi Zuri and Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia at an elevation of 350 metres, it has clay and iron and sandy stone soils.
In the winery, as well as in the vineyards, the partners try to work in a sustainable way, although Gotxi confesses that, due to the climate of the area, they are unable to forego systemic treatments when the vines are heavily affected by mildew.
Bat Gara's flagship wine is called Uno (25,000 bottles, 11 euros), one of the quality benchmark wines in the smallest of the three Txakoli appellations in the Basque Country. It includes the three varieties and each plot ferments separately in stainless steel tanks with its own yeasts before ageing on the lees for about six months. The result is a wine with acidity, volume and very good evolution in the bottle.
Urtaran (4,800 bottles, €18) comes from the eponymous property but also features a selection of Arrugalde grapes, including a small percentage of Riesling. After pressing the grapes on a vertical pressing, the must ferments spontaneously with indigenous yeasts and remains with its lees for eight months in new and seasoned 600-litre chestnut and Hungarian oak barrels. According to Gotxi, chestnut can be bitter when it's new but combined with second and third use barrels that provide volume, he is able to make a wine with good balance and complexity. 2018 is their fifth vintage on the market.
More experimental wines and limited editions of only one or two barrels are bottled under the Bat Gara brand, where Gotxi gives free rein to his curiosity. They are all priced at around 18-20 euros. Aromas del Sur is their homage to sherry wines made from Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia grapes. The wine remains with its lees for 10 months in a 300-litre cherry barrel which has not been filled, creating a controlled oxidation and a highly original style, likely to appeal to lovers of Jerez and Jura wines.
Bat Gara 18 Meses is a 100% Hondarrabi Zuri sourced from the Arrugalde vineyard and is aged in old French oak barrels in search of maturity and creaminess. Sutsu (spark, in Basque) is an ancestral sparkling wine made from Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia. "I choose the stainless steel deposit with less fruit and more mineral notes and when there are nine grams of sugar left, I bottle a small batch. The bottles are given a gentle shake and a twist once the bottles are in A-frame racks to get volume and bakery notes", explains Gotxi. The latest release is called Ioritz, an original Hondarrabi Zuri orange wine, aged for 24 months in oak and chestnut barrels and named after Gotxi's son.
Bat Gara does not organise tours for visitors, but all the wines —including old vintages— can be tasted alongside the traditional cuisine served at Bideko, the restaurant owned by Guinea and located in a traditional farmhouse just five minutes from the winery.
