Ep 384: Txakolina --The Wine of Basque Country

<p>The Basque Country in northeastern Spain lies on the Bay of Biscay and abuts the Pyrenees Mountains, a mere 18 mi/30 km from the French border. Until about a decade ago, this area was relatively unknown as a wine region. But with the rise of Basque cuisine, an increased interest from wine buyers in native varietals, and a desire for lower alcohol, thirst-quenching wines, <strong>Txakolina (chock-o-LEEN-ah)</strong>, a white, high acid, spritzy wine started to get attention. The phenom started in places all over the United States (which boasts a Basque population of more than 50,000 people), then the UK and Japan, now small quantities of wine find their way to  many other countries around the world.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src= "https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/show/45638/Basque_Country.png" alt="" width="444" height="281" /><br /> <span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>Map of Basque Country: Vineyards.com<br /> <br /></em></span></p> <p>In this show, we discuss this historic region, with its own language, culture, and wine traditions. We talk about how the modern wine industry was renewed, and what you can expect from these delicious, refreshing (mainly white) wines. If you haven’t had these wines or heard of them, this should will give you a good foundation to learn about them and appreciate all that it took for them to make it to your table!</p> <p> </p> <p>Here the show notes:</p> <ul> <li>We give an overview of the Basque region (<em>Euskadi),</em> and the language of Euskera, one of the oldest spoken languages with no link to any other known language <ul> <li>We discuss the quirky naming convention of the wine of this area, the original name of called <strong>txakolin</strong> and the meaning of <strong>txakolina</strong>  "the <em>txakolin</em>" – a term was used from middle of the 18th century onwards and how Txakoli was a misspelling used after 1985. (<em>Source: <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Txakoli#cite_note-hiztegibatua-1">Wikipedia</a>, originally from the Academy of Basque Lan