Makatzak Narrasti 2023

Makatzak Wild Wines is the project of Aitor Irazu and his cousin Jon Estebanez, who farm three hectares in Aia, in the Getaria zone of the Basque coast, to make this Txakoli from the native Hondarrabi Zuri. Making clean wine here is hard: the high rainfall and Atlantic humidity encourage mildew, so working biodynamically and naturally, without chemical treatments, is a genuine achievement. The maritime climate is what gives the wine its character, with cool temperatures and constant sea influence holding sharp acidity and salinity. The vines grow on the region's stony, often granite-based coastal soils. Made in a fresh, unoaked natural style, the wine keeps its primary fruit and cut. The colour is pale straw with green tints. The nose shows green apple, lemon and citrus peel over white flowers, and the palate is bracingly crisp and dry, driven by high acidity and a marked saline, stony freshness into a short, clean finish. Serve very cold at 7 to 9 degrees.