In Errezil almost every farmhouse makes its own cider, and once a year the village decides which is best. On Saturday 3 October, at the 13th Errezil Cider Championship (Sagardo Txapelketa Herrikoia), the jury chose the cider from the Agerre Goikoa farmhouse. The public voted separately and gave first prize to Basabe.

The results

18 farmhouses took part, two more than last year, and the rule was that the cider had to be made in Errezil itself.

  • Jury: 1st Agerre Goikoa, 2nd Zumeta and 3rd Iraola Zaharra.
  • Public: 1st Basabe, 2nd Erdoizta and 3rd Agerre Goikoa, which thus took home two prizes.

The 18 ciders came from Urdalleta, Agerre Goikoa, Buztinzuri, Irure Txiki, Estrada Zaharra, Lasturreta, Aritzeta Goikoa, Ibarguren, Galarraga saletxe, Aranguren, Zuazketa, Zumeta, Iraola Zaharra, Basabe, Aritzeta Azpikoa, Mugarrieta, Muno Haundi and Erdoizta.

Agerre Goikoa takes over from Arabe, which in 2025 won both prizes, the jury’s and the public’s. In 2024 the txapela (the beret given to champions) went to Ibarguren, and in 2023, at the tenth edition, to Zuazketa.

A village party

The championship is organised by the Gaztetandik cultural association and was held at the frontón (the village pelota court) from 20:00. Tickets cost €20 (€15 for 12 to 15-year-olds) and included tasting the competing ciders, with pintxos of omelette, chorizo and pork belly, dessert and coffee. Dozens of villagers of all ages came along to taste and vote.

A good harvest in 2025; not in 2026

There is a reason so many farmhouses entered: the 2025 harvest was good, and some of the surplus apples ended up as cider. This year it will be the other way round. In Errezil they call it ez-urtea, the lean apple year that usually follows a good one, and on top of that the heat and lack of rain have scorched and dried the fruit and brought the picking forward. At the Errezilgo Ibarbi Sagarra Elkartea, the Errezil apple association, they sum it up as few apples, so it will be hard to match this year’s turnout in 2027. It is the same story across the Basque Country: the Euskal Sagardoa DO is also expecting a smaller harvest.

The apple is part of Errezil’s identity, in Urola Erdia, and the championship shows it every year: more than a competition, it is a party the village is proud of.

The championship is now in our calendar, as is the village’s next apple date: the Ibarbi Apple Fair, on 6 December.

Sources