Bodega Berroja is a beautiful property that begs to be visited. The grand vistas are stunning,…read moreespecially on a rare clear day. We were fortunate to have coordinated our visit with Natalia and her tour of the vineyards, processing area and the tasting room was memorable. It was a perfect start to a day of exploring the countryside of Biscaya, including Gernika. The photos tell the story better than any words I can use. Txakoli primarily comes from three territories of the Basque region: Gipuzkoa, Biscaya and Alava. There are DO certifications in each of these areas which regulate the style and quality of the wines. Production from the 3 regions is under 2 million bottles. It is a white wine of great popularity for eating pintxos as it has a high acidity which cuts thru the fatty foods and oils used in that cuisine. Of particular note are the Txakoli wines from Getaria DOC in Gipuzkoa, which are poured about a foot above the glass allowing them to effervesce (bubble) in the glass and give off a wonderful fresh leafy perfume nose. 90+% of the wines are white. The white variety uses the grape Hondarribi Zuria, the red grape is Hondarribi Beltza. Do yourself a huge favor and visit Bodega Berroja. Slow down and appreciate the effort that has been used to make this beautiful facility and equally beautiful wines.

When the national drink of the Basque Country, Txakolí (chalk-oh-lee), is served, one and all pause…read moreto admire the performance. The seemingly flat sparkling white wine explodes with carbonation when decanted, using an enthusiastic overhand technique. Leave the champagne flutes and coupes on the bar as this rustic, straw-colored beverage refuses anything but an oversized tumbler. Txomin Etxaniz Winery's version excels at cleansing the palate between bites of flash-fried or salty foods.

If you're in San Sebastian and have a car, I recommend stopping by Txomin Extaniz…read more Once you arrive, you might be greeted by one of the owner's sons Mikel who is charged with many duties, among them giving the English speakers a tour of the winery and also a tasting of housemade anchovies, bread, Txakoli and rose. I much preferred the Txakoli as it was more fragrant and went home with two bottles. Note: You need to make an appointment before you visit. Also, if you're like me you will get lost so pay attention to the signs while you're driving. The winery is located down a steep hill with captivating views of the sea.

Tucked below the 1* Eneko in Larrabetzu, which is the old locale of 3* Azurmendi, is Eneko Atxa's…read moreUncle's winery. Of course wine is made for the various Eneko restaurants worldwide and those grapes in the immediate area are only for the current Azurmendi further up the hill. Otherwise they source grapes from the surrounding area of Bilbao to make the Txakoljna wines of note. If you decide to check out their operations they give tours before lunch most days and can precede a meal at Azurmendi or Eneko. Last time i was in the area the airline left my bags in Barcelona. So I showed looking like I came out of a hostel with nothing but my backpack and ended up waiting at Azurmendi when I should have been below at the winery before lunch. This time I made sure to be at the right place on time and had a wonderful tour. If you're a culture and wine lover this is worth a visit to learn about Basque food ways

Stayed alongside this place for various occasions. Always festive and great service. Get a frasca,…read moreorder the cheese, eat the meats! It's all an experience.

This places breaths history and decadence. It's is exactly like it was 80 years ago. Where you had…read moreluxury before now it's a nice and charming old school Bar. The vibe is terrific, when we got there there was a piano player on an upper stage in the main room. You have a lobby with the bar that it's followed by a main room, with plenty of tables. There is also a little glass room inside the lobby where you can also seat. The Menu is mainly composed by cold cuts, cheese and wines. We got some goat cheese in oil (be careful, it is really tasty , if you never tried before you will be hooked) and red wine. It was a delightful experience, for our five senses. I will recommend this place to anyone staying in Santander.

From the owner: El TXOTX es un fenómeno de la cultura gastronómica de nuestra Sagardoa(Sidra Natural Vasca), nace…read morede la cata que realizaban los clientes a la hora de comprar. Antiguamente las bodegas de producción no disponían de medios para poder conservar la Sagardoa durante todo el año en la kupela(barrica), por lo que el cliente entre finales de invierno y principios de primavera(periodo actual de TXOTX), debía hacer acopio de la Sagardoa embotellada para todo el año. Ante las diferencias de calidad que presentaban entre unas kupelas y otras, el comprador cataba el contenido de cada una buscando los mejores caldos, hasta cerrar el trato de compra de Sagardoa embotellada. La Sagardoa(Sidra Natural Vasca) es producto del año, de modo que la sagardoa que tomamos cada año de finales de Enero en adelante es una nueva bebida que acaba de nacer, con las características que le haya aportado el año climático a la manzana de la que proviene. Esto le da a nuestra bebida un encanto especial. Los meses de Febrero, Marzo y Abril, excepto sábados y festivos, Zapiain abre las puertas de su bodega a amigos, clientes y visitantes en general, de 8 de la tarde en adelante, para que en ambiente único puedan disfrutar bebiendo la nueva Sagardoa directamente servida de las kupelas por el propio bodeguero. Se cena de pie en la misma bodega, con los platos tradicionales que acompañan a la Sagardoa: tortilla de bacalao, bacalao frito, chuleta, queso y nueces. Se puede adquirir Sagardoa embotellada todo el año.

Our amazing travel agency, shout out to Spain Unspoilt, set up all our local San Sebastián tours…read morewith Basque Tours and they were just perfect. We started off our trip with a 3 hour pintxo tour with their newest employee, Guillermo. However, you would never know he was new based on the way he knew the art of pintxo hunting. We put what we learned from him into practice the duration of our stay and it was such a fun night. The next day we were a little hungover (thanks Guillermo :)) for our wine and cheese tour with Juan. But Juan couldn't have been more patient with us and shared had so much knowledge to share about a cheese farm, winery and local fishing town. He was also super fun to spend the day with and so lovely to chat with. And then day 3 was spent with a lovely Australian Andy who has made Basque Country his home with his Basque wife the past 16 years. He took us to 3 villages (one in France and 1 in Spain) and taught us so much about each village. It was a fun, relaxing day and super cool to see the Basque Country beyond San Sebastián. We had fun exploring San Sebastián our own, but loved having these 3 days with such fun, warm guides. Highly recommend for anyone visiting San Sebastián and have a feeling any of their tours are great based on the 3 we encountered.

I cannot stress enough how amazing our day with Basque Tours was, specifically our day with Andoni!…read moreIf you're looking to book a wine tour this is definitely the company for you. Andoni told us all about the region, the wine varieties, and the strict regulations for La Rioja. In addition to just being a really cool, chill, guy with tattoos in honor of Pearl Jam, Andoni was a great story-teller as well. We learned a ton from him but also just enjoyed the time we had to chat. We're big wine-lovers and go to Napa on the regular so we really appreciated a tour that let us try several wines at several places and spend a good amount of time learning. I loved that some of the tastings were more formal and some were more casual. PLUS we got to check out the awesome village of La Guardia, have some amazing chorizo, AND had a tasty lunch in a wine cave. One of the best days of our vacation for sure. Many of the wines we tried are distributed back in the US which was great news for our luggage weight limits. We ended up buying a few cheaper bottles that weren't available back home because the quality was excellent and they were so affordable! I mean, like a half case for what we pay for a bottle in Napa. CRAZY. We are both so happy to finally have some smarts when it comes to ordering Spanish wines from La Rioja AND we're thrilled to have some great wine to share with the family this coming Thanksgiving. Thanks, Andoni!