Alfredo Egia - Bizkaiko Txakolina Rebel Rebel 2019

80% Hondarrabi Zerratia and 20% Izkiriota Txikia

Bizkaiko, DO

Txakolina 

Spain

Manually harvested, directly pressed with whole bunches, and spontaneously fermented in barrels. Rebel Rebel is raised in old French oak barrels. The malolactic fermentation usually overlaps with the end of the alcoholic fermentation and finishes by the end of spring. The wine remains on its lees without bâtonage (lees stirring), and some barrels are topped up while others are intentionally oxidized and not topped up, depending on the health of the oxidation. Before the following harvest, the wine is blended into stainless tanks where it rests for another six to ten months prior to bottling. The wine is unfiltered, unfined, and has no added sulfur.

Bizkaiko is also an Atlantic climate, but the inland areas of the appellation have a continental influence. This slight continental influence means greater highs and lows than those on the coastline. Alfredo has seen the summertime temperatures from a high of 37ºC (100°F) down to -7ºC (19ºF), not too far from what might be felt inside of Spain’s lower lying Rioja areas. However, this countryside looks nothing like Rioja, as it’s completely green. From mid-September to mid-May, one day out of four is wet and the annual average rainfall is 1050mm (~41 inches) and with very high humidity imposed by the Atlantic only 16km (10 miles) away. Directly seventy kilometers to the south is the northwestern end of Rioja, where the average rainfall is less than half of Balmaseda, and mostly void of verdure outside of the agricultural land and further up into the mountains. All these factors in conjunction with Txakoli grape types lead to harvest times around the second week of October (2021), with alcohols ranging between 12-13.5%, depending on the season. Another notable difference between Bizkaiko and the other Txakoli areas is that it has a higher average vineyard altitude. Couple that with a later budbreak and the continental influence and it’s easier to restrict the use of fungicides. Organic and biodynamic farming is extremely hard here, but it’s easier, in theory, than elsewhere in Txakoli.

Alfredo’s bucolic, steep, and south-facing vineyard is surrounded by indigenous trees on all sides. The slope angle ranges between 15%-45% and its altitude from 200 to 300m. The bedrock is locally known as cayuela, a calcareous marl with a slate-like layered appearance that sits nearly vertical, alternating with siliceous sandstones. Most of the topsoil in the shallower upper sections are likely from the underlying bedrock, while those further down in the deeper soils (with an average depth of around 80cm) have greater organic matter content and perhaps other non-bedrock derived components.