100% Hondarrabi Zuri.
This is a skin-contact "orange wine" produced with carbonic maceration of the full clusters in stainless steel for 15 days, followed by 8 months in an old oak vat and 3 more months in 300- and 500-liter white clay amphorae. All of the wines ferment with indigenous yeasts, and this one comes from one plot planted in 2010 in Gernika.
A bright amber color and a perfumed nose of orange marmalade, candied apricots, nettle and white pepper aromas. With time emerge notes of ginger and root beer giving it an earthy slant. Its palate is fresh, silky and salty, which make it very sapid. Subtle tannicity, refreshing acidity and slight final bitterness typical of Hondarrabi Zuri. Leaves hints of nuts and stone fruit like peaches.
Very unusual wine which aims to pay tribute to the most ancient form of production. 3,000 bottles produced.
Itsasmendi was created by a group of friends, many of which have worked in the winery that functions like a small cooperative in Guernica. They have a total of 37.5 hectares of vineyards in 15 different plots within the Bizkaiko Txakolina appellation, mostly local grapes but also some Riesling that has been there for 30 years now. A distinctly Atlantic climate, the broad geological and microclimatic diversity that give rise to at least 3 different weeks of ripening and a vinicultural philosophy of maximum respect for the environment. The use of indigenous varieties with a notable earthy character such as Hondarrabi Zuri and Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratie accentuate the wealth provided by Nature. They make around 200,000 bottles per vintage.
Their main objective is the search for the maximum oenological potential of each small ecosystem created in the vineyards, with character and originality.