Bodega Ugabe
”I started farming without chemicals when my father was going through chemotherapy. I didn’t want to expose him to more chemicals.“ Ugaitz Iturbe’s family has been farming in this valley beneath the Montagne de Gorbea, the most important mountain for the Basque people, since the 1700s.
The Valle de Arrátea is 10 km from Bilbao and 10 km from the sea, as the crow flies, at 300m elevation. Surrounded by pine and eucalyptus forest, Ugaitz is careful to only use as much energy as he needs to farm and in his two room cellar.
Fermentations are spontaneous, filtering or fining not done - he can only do this here in Bizkaiko, the rules are wildly different in neighboring Getaria. Ugaitz continues to experiment - with a novel trellis system designed to help reduce odium, with days on skins, with pet nat.
We love seeing the cheery Basque txantxan gori on his unfiltered Txacoli. In Basque lore. if you have money in your pocket when you spot your first “dancing red bird “of the season, you will have a good business year.
Here’s to many great years ahead, Ugaitz!
