Crossing the mountains which separate the French and Spanish Basque regions, one passes through Navarra, a Basque community which transcends national lines. This area, bridging France’s Irouléguy and Spain’s Txakoli viticulture areas, does not belong to its own geographical indication, lying outside the limits of the Navarra D.O. (designated origin) region, which produces mostly red wines. Here, on a cool spring morning we visited Baztango Xurie, an initiative by the couple Ana Iriarte and Iñaki Bengoetxea, who position their winemaking initiative as a blend of education, agri-tourism, and of course, wine production. This visit highlighted the cross-border cultural and agricultural flows and exchanges, as the couple regularly visit both neighboring Irouléguy, and Txakoli regions to learn and adapt their own approaches. Cultivating grape varieties from both nearby regions, Baztango Xurie (referencing the nearby village Baztan) shows the possibilities of hybrid approaches outside of a D.O. system. They are gradually experimenting on the land as they expand their vineyard plantations, always aiming to use fewer treatments on the vines, and to discover the unique properties of each site (such as this plantation near a stand of mature trees) and how the micro-climate and land have different needs. They are also members of an agricultural collective, Biba Ardoak, which brings together natural wine makers from across the Basque region.

https://bibaardoak.eus/es/vineronxs/baztango-xurie/#gehiago

Photos:

1. Mixed landscape of Baztango Xurie
2. Natural wine from the border
3. On the French and Spanish Border