Astigarraga Festival of Sidra Natural

The rolling green hills and apple orchards some 7 km south of San Sebastian make up the heart of Basque Country sidra natural production. The towns of Astigarraga and nearby Hernani are home to some fifteen Sidrerias, or Sagardotegia, as they are called in Basque.

The Sagardoetxea, or Museo de la Sidra, offers a tasting room, an equipment and video presentation in separate building, a walking tour of an apple orchard mock-up, and an overview of the history and process. In my case I arrived at the museum along with an Canadian couple so we were given a tour in English. A similar tour at the Nava Sidra Museum in Austurias was entirely in Spanish and my translation was poor, so details about the malic acid process, for example, were probably not interpreted clearly by me.

6332922910_62ef6a86f2_b

The first day I visited Astigarraga I found the town curiously empty. Some bars were open but empty of all but staff. I noticed small groups walking around a fenced greenscape and into a narrow street climbing a cobblestone hill. I followed them. To my surprise I walked straight into a festival of sidra natural, with bottles from roughly twenty sagardotegia all from Basque Country, one or two from across the nearby border with France.

IMG_4738

6332171101_2b7c41be12_b

What the Basque call “Giza-abere probak”, which translates to “human-animal tests”.

IMG_4733

Pintxos and sidra natural for lunch at an unplanned festival. Being lucky beats being good today.

IMG_4750

IMG_4720

6332922306_4ebd7f1b04_b

Sidra natural from Alorrenea, a personal favorite.

IMG_4756

Untitled-2

IMG_4731

Lizeaga Sidra Natural Eusko Label.

An Eusko Label is sidra natural made entirely with locally-grown apples from the grounds, while standard label sidra usually includes a larger mixture of apples from different orchards and regions.

IMG_4736

Petritegi Sidra Eusko Label

IMG_4745

Txopinondo Sidra Natural

Map

BJCP-certified beer judge, photographer, and software developer from Boulder, Colorado. I use this site to chronicle my worldwide beer adventures shared through photography and stories, with a focus on traditional old world brewing practices.

2 thoughts on “Astigarraga Festival of Sidra Natural

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *