Petritegi, the Astigarraga cider house, has brought out its first unfiltered alcohol-free cider: Petritegi 0,0 sin filtrar. It went on sale on 2 October, in the year the house is celebrating 500 years, and with a medal already to its name: silver at the latest SISGA, the international cider fair in Gijón.

How it is made

It is a blend of 15 varieties of cider apple. The juice ferments like any other cider and the alcohol is then taken out, in a dealcoholisation process that, according to the cider maker, is designed to keep the drink’s structure. It is not filtered, so it keeps the cloudiness of natural cider, and it has no added sugar. Petritegi says it spent two years developing it.

The house describes it as straw-yellow and cloudy, with fresh, fruity aromas led by citrus, and on the palate the acidity of cider apples with a gentle bitterness at the end. Like any unfiltered cider, it leaves a sediment: the cider maker recommends turning the bottle upside down before opening it and serving it at 10 to 13 °C.

It is not Petritegi’s first alcohol-free cider: it already sold La Petri, its sparkling cider, in a 0.0 version. What is new is a cloudy cider with the profile of Basque natural cider, without the alcohol; the house presents it as the first unfiltered 0.0 Basque cider. It is sold in its online shop.

Two silvers at the SISGA

At the 16th SISGA, held in Gijón from 24 to 27 September, Petritegi won two silvers: one for alcohol-free cider, with this unfiltered 0.0, and another for naturally carbonated brut sparkling cider, with 1526 Reserva. The rest of the results are in our SISGA report.

500 years

The 0.0 is one of the anniversary’s new releases. In May the house brought out Petritegi 500 Bostehun, a special-edition natural cider under the Euskal Sagardoa DO, made with apples from Gipuzkoa and dedicated to the farmhouse cider mill — whose origins it dates to 1526 — and to the Otaño family who run it. On its anniversary website it also announces an evening of Basque songs with Ángel Mariazcurrena, a comedy show in Basque by Aitziber Garmendia followed by dinner, and a party for the people of Astigarraga with an exhibition on the town’s memory, sardines and txotx (cider straight from the cask).

Petritegi opens its cider house all year round, makes cider under the Euskal Sagardoa DO and runs tours and tastings in the cellar. Opening hours, menu and services are on its page.

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