Guided tours in 12 Basque cider houses

29/05/2025

Guided tastings and visits in Basque cider cellars

Year after year more and more Basque cider cellars open throughout the year to offer guided tours and tastings, thus expanding the traditional txotx season experience. These visits, in addition to enjoying the traditional menu made of local products, allow you to immerse yourself in the fascinating process of Basque cider-making, discover the history of each family and, of course, enjoy a guided tasting of the best ciders of each cellar.

You will visit the apple orchard, the cider-making area, the cellars, and, of course, you will taste different ciders in the meantime. To put the icing on the cake, you will have the traditional cider menu: cod omelet, fried cod with peppers, T-bone steak and as a dessert: walnuts, Idiazabal cheese and quince paste.

Basque cider is much more than just a drink; it is a symbol of the tradition, history and culture of the Basque Country. A guided visit to a cider cellar allows you to get to know an ancient tradition that has lasted for centuries. Txotx's moment, when a barrel is opened and customers are invited to taste cider directly from the barrel, is one of the most authentic experiences that can be experienced in the Basque Country.

Below, the 12 Basque cider cellars where you can enjoy guided tours and tastings, in addition to the traditional cider house menu:

ABURUZA CIDER HOUSE

Aburuza is located in a privileged landscape, protected by the slopes of the mountain and has a spectacular panoramic view from Mount Adarra to the Mount Txindoki. Aburuza, built surrounded by apples trees, offers a perfect view of the evolution of the history of cider-making in the Basque Country. From the old farm to the modern cellar. We will follow the steps of Basque cider-making from the apple orchard to the production area, and finish our visit discovering the different cellars and tasting various ciders directly from the barrels. You will also get to know the family, Juan Joxe and his two sons Josu and Ibon Aburuza, before sitting down to enjoy a traditional cider house menu.

ALTZUETA CIDER HOUSE

Surrounded by apples, the Altzueta Cider House is located in the Osiñaga neighborhood of Hernani. Although the date of its creation is unknown, there are documents attesting that the Altzueta family at least sell their cider since 1878, and today the fourth generation continues with Aitziber Goikoetxea and Ibon Alkorta. In 2004, a major reform was undertaken, increasing the size of the cider barrels, adding new modern machinery, and extra stainless steel stores were introduced, but keeping the old traditional chesnut wooden barrels. By visiting Altzueta you will have the chance to discover this ancient Basque cider-making tradition from close.

ASTARBE CIDER HOUSE

The Astarbe Cider House is located on the banks of the ancient Royal Road, in Astigarraga, 6 km away from San Sebastian. The Astarbe family has a long-term cidermaking tradition. The first historical references to this cider cellar date back to 1563. Since then, knowledge, both in cooking and in the production of cider, has passed from generation to generation, and has improved to this day. The brothers Hur and Joseba Astarbe, with the help of their sister Kizkitza and their great team, make high quality ciders that you can taste during a guided tour to the cider house.

BEREZIARTUA CIDER HOUSE

Bereziartua is a family bussiness dedicated to the production of cider since 1870. It was then that the first barrels of Bereziartua cider were made in the old facilities of Ergobia. A century later, in 1970, the cider cellar definitely opted to make cider at the current location in Astigarraga. Since then, and after various modernization processes, Bereziartua has become a reference in the production of natural cider, maintaining a family character in the service of tradition, with respect and gratitude to their most faithful clientele.

GAZTAÑAGA CIDER HOUSE

Gaztañaga is a cider cellar and grill opened in 1989. It was Joxe Angel Gaztañaga who started the cider business and the restaurant, following in the footsteps of his father Angel, who in 1975 was already making cider for his own consumption in their neighbourhood’s tolare (press) in Buruntza. Nowadays, Joxe Angel Gaztañaga and his son Axier are in charge of the cider cellar with care and effort. The building, which was originally a cow stable, is located in the Buruntza district, in the municipality of Andoain.

IPARRAGIRRE CIDER HOUSE

Iparragirre Cider House is the queen of local products. Iparragirre is highly aware of the environment and advocates the comprehensive sustainability of solar panels and wood for water heating, pollination, recycling, respect for birds living on their land and, above all, respect for organic apples. Iparragirre Tolarea (beam-press farm) is a cellar with more than 500 years of history. It is Arantza and Ana Eguzkitza who run the cider house with lots of love and wisdom, hand to hand with Andoni, this last’s son. Visiting the Iparragirre Cider House allows you to discover both the past and present of this longterm Basque cidermaking tradition.

LIZEAGA CIDER HOUSE

Lizeaga’s beam-press farm was built in the 16th century. So it's a 450 year-old farm, where they have been making cider since the beginning. Among the four main axes was the press, around which was the kitchen, rooms, stables, and other rooms. Their family have lived there year after year, for centuries, doing what they know best: cider.

Over time, in 1918, Julian Arrieta bought the farm from his then owner, the Count of Peñaflorida. So they went from tenants to owners. In 1988 the brothers Gabriel and Joxe Mari Lizeaga opted for a new name, using their surname as a brand.

MIZPIRADI CIDER HOUSE

Mizpiradi is located in the Leizotz neighborhood of Andoain. The Esnaola family entered the Mizpiradi farm with Jon Mikel's great-grandfather, and since then his descendants have continued to rule the farm. Cider has always been made on the farm. In 2000, however, it was renovated, moving from livestock to professionalization in the cider sector. Today, young Jon Mikel leads the march home with his mother's help. It was his father, Angel Maria, who made the decision to start a cider house, and the son follows in his father's footsteps with passion, illusion, and dedication.

OIHARTE CIDER HOUSE

Oiharte Sagardotegia, located in Zerain, is a young cellar run by Maite Retolaza Ojanguren and Haritz Eguren Urrestarazu. They started marketing cider in 2010. The families of Haritz and Maite have always produced cider, as in so many farms in the Basque Country, but it was for their own consumpsion, so the marketing of Oiharte cider has come with Haritz and Maite. In 2002, the Oiharte farmhouse was restored and converted into a farmstay house. It has all the modern comforts necessary to ensure a pleasant stay, but without losing the spirit of the 17th century farmhouse. Later, in 2010 they built the cider cellar and open to the opportunity to offer a complete cider experience.

OLA CIDER HOUSE

Enter the world of Basque cider and the mining tradition of the Aiako Harria Natural Park. The Ola cider house, located inside an old 13th century foundry, has an unimaginable natural environment within the Aiako Harria Natural Park. During a the guided tour to Ola, you will visit the apple orchard, the production area and the cellar. And you will of course taste different ciders and homemade products along with the traditional cider house menu.

PETRITEGI CIDER HOUSE

The Petritegi cellar is located in Astigarraga, and they have been making cider there since 1526, when a bussinessman named Petri built the beam-press farm there. The farm was built around the cider press, on the first floor of the building, and it occupied most of the building. At the beginning of the 20th century, Agapito Goikoetxea, the great-grandfather of the current owner family, bought the beam-press farm and continued to make cider there. Today, the 4th, 5th and 6th generations of the Otaño Goikoetxea family are the ones who work merrily to continue producing that liquid gold. Petritegi is a cellar known for its great product diversification.

SAIZAR CIDER HOUSE

Saizar Sagardotegia is located in Usurbil, 10 kilometers away from San Sebastian. Saizar was founded in the 1970s, when Esteban Lertxundi, who knew much about cider and its production process, decided to use the Saizar farmhouse, a typical farm, and the old stable, to create a cider house. Thanks to his knowledge of the cider tradition, and with his wife, Olivia Ibarguren, and their sons, the whole Lertxundi family is fully engaged in the new cider business, which is becoming more and more powerful as it is open all year round.