Txakoli (sha-ko-LEE)

Txakoli is made from the indigenous white grape called hondurrabi zuri. Zuri means white in Basque; hondurrabi is a village near the French border. Dry as a bone, and extremely sleek on the palate, txakoli is often slightly carbonated and is served in a unique manner called “breaking.” To break txakoli, the wine is poured from a height of several feet into a little tumbler glass (splashing some on the floor seems to be SOP). The flight through air is said to open up the txakoli and make it smell and taste more vivid.