38. TOPA! CIDER DAY OF DONOSTIA

Once again, Sagardo Eguna filled the Plaza de la Constitución in San Sebastián with cider, culture, and celebration. More than 4,000 people attended the event and were able to taste the best Gipuzkoan ciders.

Cider was the star of the show today in Donostia

This year, cider was once again available to taste by the glass, providing an opportunity for those who came to try the different ways of consuming cider.

In a festive atmosphere, those attending Sagardo Eguna enjoyed the numerous offerings centered around cider culture, offered by the Gipuzkoa Cider House Association and the Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin, organizers of the event along with Donostia City Council, Donostia Festak, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, and the Basque Government.

Thirty-one cider houses belonging to the Gipuzkoa Cider House Association offered the public their best ciders from the 2024 harvest. To the music of trikitilaris and bertsolaris, approximately 6,000 bottles were served, accompanied by a variety of chorizo, cod omelet, and cheese pintxos.

In addition to the tastings, the Cider House Association presented various activities to raise awareness about the cider producers' work and their ancient culture, full of secrets unknown to the general public. For example, the artisanal apple pressing process was witnessed firsthand, including a tasting of the first must from the 2025 harvest.

The event was attended by special guests such as Amaia Barredo, Regional Minister of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries; Eneko Goia, Mayor of Donostia-San Sebastián; Jakes Agirrezabal, Deputy Regional Minister of Tourism and Trade; Nora Beltrán de Otalora, Director of Food Quality and Promotion; Arantza Ariztimuño, Director of Agriculture and Territorial Balance of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa; Libe Otegi, Director of Tourism of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa; mayors and representatives of the municipalities of Astigarraga, Andoain, Hernani, Usurbil, Urnieta, Ataun and Asteasu; members of the Gipuzkoa Hospitality Association and the Getariako Txakoliña Designation of Origin; representatives of the Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin; and other stakeholders and representatives from the agriculture, agri-food industry and hospitality industries. 

These are the cider houses that participated in the Cider Day of Donostia:

1. Aburuza (Aduna)
2. Aginaga (Usurbil)
3. Akarregi (Hernani)
4. Alorrenea (Astigarraga)
5. Altuna (Urnieta)
6. Altzueta (Hernani)
7. Añota (Azpeitia)
8. Astarbe (Astigarraga)
9. Barkaiztegi (Donostia)
10. Calonge (Donostia)
11. Etxeberria (Astigarraga)
12. Gartziategi (Astigarraga)
13. Gaztañaga (Andoain)
14. Gurutzeta (Astigarraga)
15. Iparragirre (Hernani)
16. Izeta ( Aia)
17. Lizeaga (Astigarraga)
18. Mizpiradi (Andoain)
19. Oianume (Urnieta)
20. Oiarbide (Astigarraga)
21. Oiharte (Zerain)
22. Ola (Irun)
23. Petritegi (Astigarraga)
24. Rezola (Astigarraga)
25. Rufino (Hernani)
26. Saizar (Usurbil)
27. Satxota (Aia)
28. Tximista (Ordizia)
29. Urdaira (Usurbil)
30. Zabala (Aduna)
31. Zelaia (Hernani)

Another activity this Cider Day that has generated interest among children and adults alike has been the workshops on grafting techniques and types.

Euskal Label Pintxos by Txomin Parrilla

During the event, Txomin Parrilla prepared Basatxerri xolomoburu and cooked chorizo, to the taste of the attendees. Until now, the Petritegi Sagardotegia has managed the pintxos stand, but this year the Association has made the change by creating the town's Euskal Label pintxos stand. Opposite, with the help of the Arizmendi family from Ordizia, Itziar Etxeberria's family will set up a pintxos and cheese stand.

The most emotional moment of the day was the tribute to producers Juanjo Urruzola and Begoña Etxabe (Elutxeta Sagardotegia, Urnieta), Joxe Angel Gaztañaga and Maria Angeles Garmendia (Gaztañaga Sagardotegia, Irun), and the brothers of the Otsuenea Cider House (Hernani) for the closure of the business. They received the Association's commemorative pin from the President and Board of Directors. At 12:30, with glasses raised, the official toast was held with the cider producers, institutional representatives, guests, and honorees. The owners of these cider houses have dedicated their lives to cider.

Basque Country Cider Route: Information Point and Excursions in the World of Cider

This year, the stand with general information about cider and cider houses served as the Sagardoa Route's platform to showcase the products of its more than 50 member cider houses, which produce more than 122 ciders of different varieties: natural, organic, sparkling, crianza, specialty, wood-aged, hop-ripened, Designation of Origin, organic juice, and natural juice, among others. Discount vouchers were provided for the cider's online store for anyone who wants to have cider at home.

On the other hand, September and Cider Day provide the ideal opportunity for both locals and visitors alike to not only taste cider at its peak, but also to discover the product's characteristics: a low-alcohol, refreshing beverage that fortunately retains many of the apple's characteristics and benefits. Drinked in moderation, cider, in addition to being healthy, is a delicious accompaniment to countless dishes.

At this information point, visitors were also able to learn more about cider tourism excursions. More and more wineries are offering these types of experiences and tourist products related to cider culture. Furthermore, this cider season saw a 29% increase in the number of people enjoying guided tours at cider houses. Considering the increasing number of foreign visitors, cider houses are gearing up to work hard in this sector.

In a context of new markets, the Route was born, a project to renew the cider sector, working to strengthen its structure, facilitate its adaptation to new scenarios, and adapt tradition to our times and to the different types of cider drinkers, which are becoming more diverse every day.

As a result of defining the gastronomic and cultural experiences offered by cider houses, the Route has presented a wide range of tourist products this summer. The journey back to our origins, the authenticity and truthfulness of the experience, and the closeness to the customer are the strengths of this project. Being able to learn about the oldest and most traditional trades of our land, always geared toward and adapted to our times, meeting the people who carry them out, tasting their products, and enjoying the exceptional panoramic views that the Basque Country offers are the clear commitment of the Cider Route and the sector's offerings.

There are now 61 cider houses, spread across different parts of the Basque Country, that are part of the BASQUE COUNTRY CIDER ROUTE project. The cider produced in them over the centuries attests to the origins and history of the Basque Country. We have all the information at www.sagardoa.eus

Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin – the big challenge

The Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin – Basque Cider had its eighth harvest in 2024, and it will be this harvest that can be tasted during San Sebastian Cider Day. Ciders made with local apples will have a special role in the Plaza de la Constitución: each cider house will have ciders made with apples from their own apple orchards and from the apple orchards of neighbouring farms. Among them there will be ciders made with one type of apple and two types of apples, from apples from specific plots, aged in wood, aged on the lees of the previous harvest... In addition to producing high-quality ciders, the cider houses have also taken a great step towards diversifying their product, betting on local apples, and Donostia is the perfect place to explain all this work.

And following the lead of recent years, the Regulatory Council is working to increase the presence of its products both on the shelves and in the restaurant industry, alongside cider makers, and to explain the work carried out to consumers and offer tastings of all the products produced by the sector.

Small harvest in the bottle, large in the apple orchard

Today's event featured a tasting of the 2024 harvest in the Plaza de la Constitución. Euskal Sagardoa, a cider with a Designation of Origin, was the centerpiece. Last year's harvest was small, as cider makers in Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, and Alava produced 1.2 million liters, harvesting 2 million kilos of apples. It was a cider of great character and body. The ciders are at a very suitable tasting point for consumers, as many of them develop over time. San Sebastián is unique in that the cider makers themselves serve their cider, and the consumers who attended learned about the product's characteristics from the cider makers.

San Sebastian's Cider Day is celebrated on the same date as the start of the new apple harvest. Most cider houses will begin producing cider in the coming days. This year's harvest will be very abundant. In addition to being an apple year, there has been a significant amount of rain throughout the summer, which has improved apple growth. Therefore, we expect a greater number of different ciders depending on the varieties used.

Collaboration between the apple and cider sectors under the auspices of the Food Chain Law

Behatokia (Basque Government) has developed a theoretical cost model for different foodstuffs, taking into account the Value Chain Law. This theoretical model should allow each sector to adopt the cost table and for each producer to have their own cost data.

The cider and apple sectors have been working on this path over the past few years. In the case of Gipuzkoa, the Gipuzkoa Cider House Association, the Gipuzkoako Sagardogileen Elkartea, and Fruitel. An essential step in this process is to understand the real costs of each agent and agree on the steps to meet them. Currently, apple and cider producers have established a form of collaboration to guarantee local apple production. On Monday, the producers and processors will meet to outline the points to be addressed in the coming months.

Apple Needs and New Opportunities

The Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin is undergoing an expansion process. Currently, the inclusion of the Iparralde region within the Designation of Origin has already been proposed, awaiting a response from the European Union. In parallel, work is underway on the eventual inclusion of Navarre in the Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin. To this end, the MALUS BAT project is being developed. This project is working on the Strategic Plan for apples, cider, and the cider wineries' tourism strategy. We have 18 months to implement it. In the first half of the year, we worked on the reality of apples among stakeholders from the seven Basque territories.

At the end of September, we kicked off the cider workshops. It's a project that encompasses the present and future of the apple and cider sectors and will mark a turning point in the way the industry operates.

The foundation of this process is local apple production and the challenges we face along the way: quality, harvest balance, knowledge of apple varieties, optimization of different apple orchard models for our environment, generational renewal, and profitability. This profitability must adapt to changing times, to the current situation of farms and small businesses.