Bodegas Ameztoi Getariako Txakolina 2025

It's the summer of Txakoli! Or at least that's what we're telling ourselves.

If you don't know what Txakoli is yet, here's the short version: it's your new favourite summer wine. Briny, salty, a little bit spritzy, ridiculously refreshing. The wine you drink on a hot day when you want something that wakes you up.

The Ameztoi family has been making it since 1820. Ignacio is the seventh generation. The grape is Hondarrabi Zuri, indigenous to this corner of the Basque country. The winery sits on a hill overlooking the Cantabrian Sea, with vineyards tumbling down toward the water, planted in parral, those vertical pergolas that let the ocean breeze blow through. From up there, the view is ridiculous. Go look at their website. You'll see.

The wine tastes like green apples, water pear, and the zestiest of citruses. But mostly, it tastes like the sea. The acidity is almost eye-watering in the best way. There's a saline minerality that makes you want oysters, clams, anything that comes from the water. The spritz is natural, just residual carbon dioxide left over from fermentation. 

Also, can we talk about the label? Besides being the kitsch-est of the kitsch and having the most old-school vibe, it features Mr. Juan Sebastián Elcano, the first man to actually finish a circumnavigation of the globe after Magellan died halfway through back in the 1500s.