In this case, it is a white wine from the Spanish district of Bizkaiko Txakolina (this last is pronounced “chocolina”), from the house of Berroia. At 12.5% alcohol it is a mineral dream, with a nose of kumquat and rose, pushed back with chalk and silvery minerals. The salty finish so refreshes your palate that you’ll feel like immediately pouring a second glass.
This lovely bright wine is full of life, and while extremely easy to drink, it offers gossamer complexity rarely found outside a Riesling. Most of the grapes in this disarming wine are something called Hondarrabi Zuri, the name alone suggests an exotic mountain hideaway.
For $20 a bottle @ Soif, this could be the very wine for a crab or oyster appetizer at your next holiday meal.
