Txotx! Txakoli! and flying buttresses

It feels so wrong to still be posting about Spain after spending close to a week in France and now sipping a nasty ass instant frappe (oh how I missed these!) from a boat in the middle of the stunning Aegean Sea.  I can’t believe I haven’t been in Greece for 12 years.  Walking through Plaka last night and shoving onto the ferry this morning in Piraeus was just like so many past summers.  But more on Greece later…

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Okay, this is going to have to be one hell of a rambling post, because I just can’t keep up with myself.

I was going to write a bit about what I learned about cider history and production but ehhh, I shot a little video and maybe I’ll translate, subtitle and post that…next year.

Txotx

A few interesting things, I did learn more about what txotx (pron. choach) is…and how to pronounce “tx”.  And why cider is poured from a height to hit the side of an empty glass.   Cider tasting season runs in the winter, just a few months after apples are handpicked and made into natural cider.   I think traditional cider houses (sagardoa) are only open from January through April and txotx! is an invitation from the cider producer to taste directly from the new barrels of cider.

Cider houses have long communal tables and a set food menu of local dishes, which I’m sure has something to do with complementing the taste of the cider.  At a tasting the cider guy yells “txotx!” and guests line up with their glasses a few feet away from a cider barrel while the host releases a long, arching stream of cider shot from a super tiny hole in the barrel to land into the side of the guest’s cup.  I read somewhere that this aerates the cider, and allows the taster to experience the cider’s complexities.  And it is also why bottled cider is poured from a height.

Okay, I already wrote more than I wanted to about cider.  But I really love the word “txotx” and all that it symbolizes for fascinating, ancient Basque traditions.

Txakoli

One morning before work, I visited two nearby fishing villages and a txakoli winery (pron. chah-KO-lee).  It was awesome!  First stop was Zumaia, a small town on the coast that is famous for the geological wonder of flysch…rock formations of limestone, sandstone and soft clay.  Formed over 100 million years of plate shifting and coastal erosion, a lot of the formations look like stone pages of a book, sort of like a Flintstones book.  There’s also fossil evidence of dinosaurs.  And what a gorgeous beach!  The town was cute too.

Next stop was Getaria, another little coastal fishing town.  I had THE most incredible anchovies here.  I think this area is known for txakoli production.  The town itself is lovely, so is Zumaia.  But my primary objective here was to visit a vineyard and taste this txakoli all the cool kids are talking about.  It’s a young, white, slightly sparkling wine, a lot like a vinho verde (which I didn’t know until I tasted it and I love vinho verdes!) made from grapes indigenous to this region.  Went on a tasting tour at Bodega de Txakoli Talai Berri, a family-owned winery in Getaria and because I’m operating on NYC time, my introduction to txakoli came right around breakfast.

Flying Buttresses

I mean, who doesn’t love a good flying buttress?  Getaria was filled with little architectural, sculptural and archaeological surprises.  There is a Roman site here, some public art from renowned Basque sculptors and beautiful old houses and churches.  I also found out the meaning of the “extea” political banner that waves from so many windows in so many towns.

I should keep blabbing here  and finish up Spain, but I hiked an amazing stretch of the Basque coast, went to an adorable town on the French border and had an incredible last supper at a sidreria near my apartment and still need to go through my pics.  I’m officially on vacation now so maybe I will be all caught up tomorrow. Or Tuesday.  Or Wednesday.