Petritegi

Specializing in the production of delicious apple cider, the Basque reality Petritegi boasts over 500 years of history when it comes to the production of this fermented beverage. We are in Astigarraga, a town known for its numerous cider houses, located just south of San Sebastián, where the story of Petritegi began in 1640. The name literally means "Petri's house" and derives from Petri De Igeldo, a figure who 500 years ago built the property that still houses the production of Petritegi cider today. Over the centuries, several families inhabited the estate, until the beginning of the 20th century, when the great-grandfather of the current owners, Agapito Goikoetxea, acquired the property. His descendants have perpetuated the cider tradition, making various improvements and technological innovations to the production process, succeeding in recent times in establishing themselves in international markets, especially in the United States.

Among the apple varieties used by Petritegi for the production of its cider are the Goikoexte, small red apples with a particularly flavorful taste, the Txalaka, with a fresh and juicy flavor, the Urtebi Haundi, green apples with pronounced acidity, and also the Moko, Gezamina, and Urtebi Txiki. These are indigenous varieties of the Basque Country grown using sustainable practices, with some orchards even certified organic. After the pressing and alcoholic fermentation of the juice, the ciders are often aged on lees to enhance their complexity and structure. Some are then produced through a long bottle refermentation according to the Traditional Method, and all are finally marketed without any filtration and without the addition of sulfites.

The ciders produced by Petritegi are mostly single-varietal expressions of local apples, appreciated for their balance and pleasantness. These artisanal apple ferments, characterized by distinct qualities that testify to their complexity, are suitable for consumption in a wide variety of occasions, from simple aperitifs to full meals.