Cork ★ 4.4
Cork on Licenciado Pozas in Bilbao, run by sommelier Jonathan Hernando since 2014, pours 80 wines by the glass with a natural and low-intervention focus.
Try: Wine-paired pintxos, charcuterie
History
Txakoli (or txakolina in Basque) is a centuries-old Basque white, with three DO regions (Bizkaiko Txakolina, Getariako Txakolina, Arabako Txakolina) producing tense, low-alcohol wines from the Hondarrabi Zuri grape. The traditional service is escanciado: pouring from above shoulder height into a wide glass to release the natural spritz before the pour reaches the table. Bilbao bars from Bar Charly to Cork all pour txakoli; the wine drinks alongside every pintxo on the counter.
Common allergens: Sulphites
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 1 bottle Bizkaiko Txakolina (Itsasmendi or Doniene Gorrondona)
- 1 bottle Getariako Txakolina (Txomin Etxaniz or Ameztoi)
- 1 bottle aged single-vineyard Txakoli (Itsasmendi 7 or Ameztoi Rubentis rose)
- 200g Cantabrian anchovies in olive oil
- 200g Spanish goat cheese (Idiazabal)
- 200g jamon Iberico bellota
- 200g pickled white anchovies (boquerones)
- 200g pimientos de Gernika or piparras (Basque pickled green peppers)
- 150g salt-cured cod (bacalao) flaked, drizzled with olive oil
- 1 country sourdough loaf
- Wide tumbler glasses (vasos) or shallow white-wine glasses, chilled
Method
- Chill the txakoli bottles for 3 hours; the wine serves cold, around 8 to 10C.
- Set up wide tumblers (the traditional Basque vasos) or shallow white-wine glasses.
- The traditional escanciado pour: hold the bottle at arm's length above your head, tilt the glass below, and aim a thin stream from one to the other so the wine smacks the bottom of the glass and froths up. The smack against the glass is part of the service.
- Pour only 40 to 50ml at a time; txakoli is meant for fast small pours, not big glasses. The natural spritz dissipates within 5 minutes of pouring.
- Start with the Bizkaiko (most floral). Smell, then drink in two swallows. Note the light sea-salt edge.
- Move to Getariako (most savoury, mineral). Pair with anchovies; the salt amplifies the wine.
- Open the single-vineyard last. Pair with jamon and cheese.
- Set up a board with all the snacks and country bread. Pour through the bottles; each new pintxo changes the wine, that is the whole point.
Tip from the editors. The high-pour escanciado is theatre but it is also functional; without it the wine drinks heavy. If pouring into a wine glass instead of a tumbler, the spritz is lost; pour into glass tumblers if you have them.
Where to eat txakoli
Txakoli in Bilbao
Gure Toki ★ 4.6
Gure Toki on Plaza Nueva in Bilbao won the Euskal Herria pintxo championship 2016 with Idiazabal cheese soup, oxtail croquettes and cheesecake.
Signature drink: Txakoli, by the glass
Food: Idiazabal cheese soup, oxtail croquettes, Basque cheesecake
Bar El Globo ★ 4.5
Bar El Globo on Calle Diputacion in Bilbao since 1997 anchors the Indautxu pintxo crawl with the canonical txangurro (spider crab) gratin counter.
Try: Txangurro gratin pintxo
Xukela ★ 4.7
Xukela on Calle del Perro in Bilbao runs the city's most traditional pintxo bar, with candied-rooster-crest mushrooms and a wine list locals know.
Why locals love it: Locals know Calle del Perro for the city's most traditional pintxo bars; tourists rarely leave Plaza Nueva to find Xukela's mushrooms with rooster crests.
Tip: Order the mushrooms with candied rooster crests as a starter; stay for the wine list.
More cities are in research. Want txakoli covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.