Cider from the Euskal Sagardoa designation of origin took over Plaza del Machete in Vitoria-Gasteiz on Saturday 7 June. Sagardo Eguna (Cider Day), part of the Topa! Gasteiz programme, drew dozens of people around the bottles of eleven cider makers from Gipuzkoa and Álava. The event could not be held there last year: according to Gasteiz Hoy, the City Council refused permission to organise it in 2024.

A short harvest, presented in Gasteiz

The festival came four days after the designation presented its 2024 harvest on Tuesday 3 June. It was the first time that event had been held in Gasteiz, a way, according to the DO itself, of reminding people that Álava is also part of the project.

On show were 110 ciders from 48 producers in Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia and Álava. The harvest was smaller than the previous one: 2.3 million kilos of apples were picked, from which 1.3 million litres were made under the designation. “Overall, these are ciders with character, long on the palate and very aromatic,” summed up Unai Agirre, coordinator of Euskal Sagardoa. They are ciders that until now had been tasted at the txotx and that producers are starting to sell bottled. The DO also highlights the diversification of the sector, with single-plot ciders, single-variety ciders, aged ciders and ciders that have spent time in wood.

Taking part in the presentation, alongside Agirre and the DO’s president, Maite Retolaza, were the Basque Government’s Director of Food Quality and Promotion, Nora Beltrán de Otalora; the provincial councillor for Agriculture, Noemi Agirre; and the Deputy Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Beatriz Artolazabal. The programme also included a dinner with Álava restaurateurs at the Karmine restaurant, with the aim of encouraging them to offer cider lists with “names and surnames”.

Eleven cider makers at the Machete

The cider makers present were Altuna (Urnieta), Añota (Azpeitia), Etxeberria, Gurutzeta and Petritegi (Astigarraga), Isastegi (Tolosa), Iturrieta (Aramaio), Kuartango (Kuartango), Oiharte (Zerain), Trebiñu (Askartza) and Zelaia (Hernani). At the Kuartango stall, as well as cider, visitors could try its fire cider (sidra de fuego), aged in American oak barrels.

The programme, from 11.30 to 14.30 and from 17.00 to 21.00, combined cider with Eusko Label pintxos from Txomin Parrilla, express tastings led by Mikel Garaizabal, and music from Mendialdeko Gaiteroak at midday and La Txama in the evening.

The Minister for Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries, Amaia Barredo, attended the event and encouraged Álava’s hospitality sector to include in its offer “the wide range of ciders from the Euskal Sagardoa designation produced in our Country with great quality and a diversity of varieties that deserve to be known by the general public”. She also congratulated Unai Agirre, Mikel Garaizabal and Olatz Mitxelena on organising the event.

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