If we could go back in time to 1989, it would have been hard to imagine txakoli’s progression back then, both in terms of vineyard extension, quality of the wines and consumption levels. With barely 30 hectares (74 acres) of land, Getariako Txakolina appellation was born that year. Meanwhile, neighboring Basque region Vizcaya was still doing massal selection of vines to relaunch the production of txakoli, which phylloxera had almost destroyed by the end of the 19th century, as Garikoitz Ríos, technical director at Bodegas Itsasmendi, remembers.
A lot has happened since then. Vineyard surface in the DO Bizkaiko Txakolina has risen to 384 hectares and there are 46 wineries in this region around Bilbao. Close to San Sebastian is DO Getariako Txakolina, the largest of the three appellations, with 402 hectares under vine and 96 producers, whereas DO Txakoli de Álava, which lies north of the Basque capital Vitoria and Rioja Alavesa, is the smallest with 100 Ha of vineyards and seven wineries.
It was in the vicinity of Muskiz, a town on the westernmost part of Vizcaya, where Gari (as everyone calls him) and six other partners hired in 1989 a small winery and the first plots of forests and meadows to plant their vines, which nowadays extend over 35 ha around Urdaibai, a natural enclave around the Gernika estuary overlooking the Bay of Biscay, and the towns of Leioa, Bakio or Mungia, among others. “Vizcaya has a tremendous geological and microclimatic diversity; that’s why on some years we need up to 30 days to pick all our grapes and at least three weeks for maturation”, explains Gari, who employs eight people to do the work at the winery and vineyards.
With 25 vintages behind him, he is convinced that such diversity is crucial for the quality and uniqueness of his wines. They have done vegetation mappings for all their vineyards and have surveyed plots like their 3-hectare vineyard in Leioa, where they have identified a few small plots with different soil types and plant vigour. Precision viticulture has been applied since 2008 with a focus on sustainability and respecting plants and fauna diversity around the vineyard, but they are not looking to get certified.
“We use natural products to treat our vines on specific occasions, and when we are under a lot of pressure we have applied synthetic treatments, but always using common sense”, says Gari. They are interested in biodynamics and are working to reduce sulphur levels on their wines as well as finding more sustainable methods to treat mildew, the main problem in this northern region with variable springs which reduced harvest yields by 30% in 2013.
Quality has been better on even years, says Gari, but better grapes do not imply smaller yields. “The hardest thing in this area is finding a balance between vegetation and yields”. Average yields in the Leioa vineyard, with sandy soils and Riesling vines, stands at 9,000 Kg/Ha whereas in Gernika, with marl and lime soils, they barely pick 6,000 Kg/Ha of the same grape variety.
Total production at Itsasmendi does not exceed 200,000 bottles and most of them are sold in the Basque Country with a small percentage going to the US.
The Itsasmendi vineyards are trellised and lie on slopes with various exposures. The main white varieties found there are Hondarrabi Zuri, Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratie (Petit Courbu) and Riesling as well as small amounts of Hondarrabi Beltza (with a medium to long ripening cycle) and Pinot Noir (short ripening cycle), but Gari is not too keen on the current fashion to focus attention on grape varieties. “I’d rather talk about terroir and the particularities of our soils”, he says. “It is important to recover varieties, but the uncertainties of climate change and their effect on vineyards must be also taken into account”.
They want to confront the future “without uncertainties” so they are restructuring their vineyards, pulling out vines from lower quality areas which were hurriedly planted in the early years just to ensure their share of planting rights granted by the European Union. Another major focus of activity is the construction of a small winery, which will replace the utilitarian but unattractive industrial plant on the outskirts of Gernika which has been their base since 2002.
The new location honors the name of the winery (Itsasmendi in Basque means sea & mountain). It is a beautiful area in the heart of Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve with slopes planted with vines, a small shrine dating from the 19th century and awesome views of Amboto and Oiz mountains. The new winery will be a modest building integrated in the landscape and wine tourism will play an important part, with numerous activities and free walks around the estate.
It’s striking that both the winery and the vineyards lie on rented space. “Land prices are prohibitively expensive; if we had waited to buy real estate or land we wouldn’t have neither grapes nor winery”, says Gari, who takes a “calm approach to the concept of time”. Instead, they lease the land on a 20-year period and the winery on a 50-year period. So far it has been a trouble-free agreement —Gari and his partners hope things remain the same.
They have been pioneers on many fronts in this area, recalls Gari, who is thankful to winemaker Ana Martín for her help in launching the brand until recently. Innovation is still on their cards. “We were the first winery to come up with a modern brand image, the first in using Bordeaux-type bottles instead of the traditional Rhein-type and in making a late harvest wine back in 2001. We are brave people, so we plan to carry on along these lines”.
Their next challenge is to develop a powerful txakoli brand based on the strength of their location in a unique ecosystem and the area’s potential as a tourist destination for birdwatching aficionados. “We are working with professionals to identify birds which are representative of this region; we then want to tie them to portray them on a series of five labels named The Five Treasures in Urdaibai, explains Gari, who combines the technical direction of the winery with teaching at the Hotel School in Artxanda (Vizcaya) and the Innovative Winemaking Master at the University of the Basque Country.
They also want to prove that txakoli is much more than the young, fresh, high-acidity wine that most people know, although they also make one on this style (€9.75 at Vinissimus). “The concept of vintages is starting to be accepted by the public, and we want to continue growing in the production of cool-climate Atlantic-style wines capable of aging”, explains Gari.
This is the style followed by Itsasmendi 7 (around €13 in El Corte Inglés, Wineissocial and from €22 in the US through Wine Searcher). Since the first harvest in 2003, the aim has been to obtain a wine with more body and complexity than young txakolis. Grapes are selected on different plots and vinified separately and on their lees. The percentage of varieties changes in terms of the vintage (Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratie is more glyceric whereas Riesling helps with aromas) although they look for wines that show the personality of each vintage.
The current vintage on the market is 2013, a cold year which means the wine is currently lacking in expression and shows an unbridled acidity, although Gari is certain that time will tame it and it has great cellaring potential. Meanwhile, 2012 was warmer than the average so the wine is expressive, with ripe fruit notes and good length, perfect to enjoy now as is the 2010 vintage. Both are very different form 2011, a deeper linear wine with good structure. It was a surprise to find the 2006 vintage so lively, displaying a beautiful golden color and brioche notes that would confuse more than one wine expert in a blind tasting.
Itsasmendi Artizar comes from different vineyards every vintage and there are barely 2,000 bottles made in the best years. Vintage 2011 comes from sandy calcareous soils and a plot with loamy soils and was fermented in wooden vats for eight months. The result is a subtly mineral wine with creamy notes balanced with good freshness that give it cellaring potential although its price (€29 in the winery's shop) may deter some consumers.
Two original styles are Urezti Vendimia Tardía (€12.75 per 375 ml bot. at the winery's online shop; €30 in Wine Searcher), the first sweet wine in the appellation and displaying good sweet-acid balance and Eklipse (€12.50 at the winery's shop, from €31 in Wine Searcher), a singular blend of Pinot Noir and Hondarrabi Beltza displaying red fruit and a fresh style which Gari and his team are gradually improving. They know that their aim is to bring out the best of this tiny wine region shaped by the nearby mountains and the Cantábrico sea.
