Located near Gernika in the Basque Country this is one of the very few château-style in the DO Bizkaiko Txakolina. With 24Ha of vines surrounding the estate, wine tourism is an important part of the business so meetings and celebrations (weddings included) are regularly held here. Berroja offers wonderful views of Urdaibai, a natural enclave in the Gernika estuary which was declared Biosphere Reserve in 1984.
Owner José Ángel Carrero is a local forest engineer who works for Bilbao city council. He bought a Basque farmhouse in 1982 as a weekend getaway and started planting vines in the 1990s. The initial idea was to be part of a cooperative to boost txakoli as a quality white wine but he finally set up on his own.
Carrero is happy with his estate where he moved with his family a few years ago. Located on top of a hill, vines are planted on limestone and sandstone slopes benefiting from full sun exposure and protecting them against fog.
Despite the difficulties he met to find good Hondarrabi Zuri cuttings in the mid-1990s, this is the dominant variety in the estate. Others are Riesling (3Ha), Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia (Petit Courbu, 2Ha) and 1,500 plants of Folle Blanche. Carrero has also planted some red Hondarrabi Beltza even if he considers that this late-ripening grape rarely matures fully here. In his opinion, Petit Courbu also ripens late thus it is less interesting in the Berroja vineyards. An important part of Riesling is destined to Berroja, the house’s premium white, a txakoli intended to age and Carrero generously opens in vertical tastings.
2000 was their first vintage, but only 900 bottles of Aguirrebeko, their flagship txakoli, (€12 in Spain) were made. Winemaking facilities capable of producing 180,000 bottles were built in 2001, but average production stands at around 110,000 bottles. Plots are fermented separately.
Hondarrabi Zuri is the main variety in Aguirrebeko, but Berroja (€20, 8,000 bottles) includes 20% of Riesling in the blend. A txakoli with capacity for further ageing, it comes from the very best wines of each vintage and is aged with its lees in stainless steel tanks for eight months. According to Carrero, Riesling works well with Hondarrabi Zuri because the German variety doesn’t mask the aromas of the local variety.
Lento Latido (6,500 bottles, €15-18) was born during the pandemic —an extended-aged version of Aguirrebeko, spending at least a year in tank, which adds aromatic complexity and a fuller palate with mineral depth. Other recent, very limited releases include Ola Oeste (€25), a single-vineyard Hondarrabi Zuri made using carbonic maceration, and Rossé (€18), a rosé txakoli made from Hondarrabi Beltza.
Berroja currently exports around 10% of its wines. Wine tours and tastings can be combined with other tourist experiences in the area like boat tours, dining or visits to picturesque coastal villages.