Cider makers

What each quality label guarantees

• DO Euskal Sagardoa Designation of origin for natural Basque cider: only local apples from registered orchards in Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, not pasteurised and with no added gas. The French Basque Country joins through the cross-border PDO, pending in the EU. The seal goes on each bottle, not on the cider maker. Regulatory council website
• Eusko Label The Basque Government’s quality mark, the K, certified by HAZI. It covered natural cider from 2011 to 2017; today no cider carries it, as cider moved to the DO Euskal Sagardoa. A cider house may have it for another product, such as beef or farmhouse chicken. Regulatory council website
• Gorenak Collective mark of a group of Gipuzkoa cider houses (Sagardo Mahaia), created in 2011, for bottled natural cider only. Every batch is tested at the provincial Fraisoro laboratory. It does not certify where the apples come from. You can tell it by the black capsule.
• Organic production Cider with the EU organic logo (the Euro-leaf), certified by the body in its territory: ENEEK-Ekolurra in the Basque Country, CPAEN in Navarre, an approved certifier in the French Basque Country (with the optional AB logo), COPAE, ODECA or CRAEGA.
• IDOKI Quality charter of the farm producers of the French Basque Country, run by their association (Euskal Herriko Etxe Ekoizleen Elkartea) since 1992. It is not an official label: it guarantees that the producer only processes what comes from their own farm, on a small scale and selling direct. Around a hundred farms; few of them make cider. Regulatory council website
• Vignobles & Découvertes French wine tourism label from Atout France, awarded to a wine destination and to the houses that welcome visitors within it. In the French Basque Country, the destination is Irouléguy.
• PDO Sidra de Asturias Protected designation of origin for Asturian cider, made with apples of authorised varieties grown in Asturias. The same llagar can sell cider with and without the PDO. Regulatory council website
• GI Aguardiente de sidra de Asturias Geographical indication for brandy distilled from Asturian cider.
• Artisan Food (Galicia) Label awarded by the Xunta (Galician government) to food made by artisan methods in Galicia.