Wine of the week: electrify your palate with this Txakoli
If you have yet to experience the palate-electrifying flavour of a Txakoli, then you haven’t lived.
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.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
2018 Flysch, Bodega Gorosti, Getariako Txakolina, Spain £14.95, Berry Bros & Rudd, bbr.com
Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)
This article was originally published in MoneyWeek
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Wolf Hall: the Mirror and the Light' season two – still a "crown jewel"
The Week Recommends Damian Lewis and Mark Rylance star in this 'superlative' Tudor drama on BBC One
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'Election Day. Finally.'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Incendiary device plot: Russia's 'rehearsals' for attacks on transatlantic flights
The Explainer Security officials warn of widespread Moscow-backed 'sabotage campaign' in retaliation for continued Western support for Ukraine
By The Week UK Published
-
Mulled white wine: a 'quirky' Christmas hit?
The Week Recommends Retailers are hoping to tempt shoppers with a 'lighter' version of the classic festive tipple
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
The Count of Monte Cristo review: 'indecently spectacular' adaptation
The Week Recommends Dumas's classic 19th-century novel is once again given new life in this 'fast-moving' film
By The Week UK Published
-
Death of England: Closing Time review – 'bold, brash reflection on racism'
The Week Recommends The final part of this trilogy deftly explores rising political tensions across the country
By The Week UK Published
-
Sing Sing review: prison drama bursts with 'charm, energy and optimism'
The Week Recommends Colman Domingo plays a real-life prisoner in a performance likely to be an Oscars shoo-in
By The Week UK Published
-
Kaos review: comic retelling of Greek mythology starring Jeff Goldblum
The Week Recommends The new series captures audiences as it 'never takes itself too seriously'
By The Week UK Published
-
Blink Twice review: a 'stylish and savage' black comedy thriller
The Week Recommends Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie stun in this film on the hedonistic rich directed by Zoë Kravitz
By The Week UK Published
-
Shifters review: 'beautiful' new romantic comedy offers 'bittersweet tenderness'
The Week Recommends The 'inventive, emotionally astute writing' leaves audiences gripped throughout
By The Week UK Published
-
The myth of 'healthy' moderate drinking
Under The Radar The shaky logic that a daily tipple can lengthen your life has been a 'propaganda coup for the alcohol industry'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published