Last week I featured the ultimate English aperitif white wine (if you missed it, you can read it here). This week, I have searched for an equally thirst-quenching style of white wine from the rest of the world. If you have yet to experience the palate-electrifying flavour of a Txakoli then you haven’t lived – or rather your palate is still in snooze mode.
With only 11% alcohol and a water-white colour, this style of wine is the Basque country’s gift to the world. Traditionally, you would pour this wine, ice cold, from a great height (at least 50cm) into a glass and watch the microscopic bubbles, coming from the dissolved carbon dioxide, fizzle as it settles. Don’t waste a moment and then slake your thirst – your eyes will pop out of your head.
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This is the starting-gun wine for a great seafood feast. It is the time-honoured aperitif in every Spanish three-star Michelin haunt. The hondarrabi zuri grape is certainly an oddball, but it has magical qualities and, like top-flight Muscadet (a very rare beast but one worth hunting down), it has a wet pebble/sea spray freshness that few wines can manage.
Flysch is the finest version of this gripping style of wine I have ever tasted in the United Kingdom. It is a small price to pay for a white-knuckle, white-wine experience. I am certain that you will enjoy the ride.
