Balea

Many Basques can trace their ancestry to rural farmhouses or “baserris”. These small estates generally made a living by raising cattle for sale and subsisting off whatever else they could produce. To drink, this almost always meant cider for the inland baserris and txakoli on the coast. As the economy changed in the mid-1900s, many baserris traded in their cattle pastures for expanding their orchards and vineyards. This was the case for the neighboring Akarregi Txiki and Lasalde farms which, after generations of collaboration, formally joined houses to form Lasalde Elkartea. The txakoli they produce today bares the Akarregi Txiki name and was one of the 10 original wines to be admitted into the appellation of origin, Getariako Txakolina, of which there are now 33 member producers.