Altuna Sagardotegia presents the Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin bottle for the first time

Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin, made with a 100% of Basque apples from the house and Urnieta, is the new product presented today.

Xabier Altuna takes over from his parents and looks to the future Sagardotegia 

The Altuna Cider House is located in Urnieta, in a beautiful setting surrounded by apple orchards. The Altuna family has built its history in a pleasant rural setting close to the village. Galarraga is the name of the family farmhouse, and cider has always been made there, as in many other Basque farmhouses. 

Xabier Altuna's great-grandfather and great-grandmother have always made cider for personal consumption on the farm, but it was his grandparents, Joxe and Milagros, who made the leap into professional cider production, creating the Altuna Sagardotegia brand. Later, Santiago and Mari Carmen, Xabier's parents, took over the Altuna Cider House.

2024 Harvest, a Very Special Year 

Xabier embarked on this journey, alongside his father and mother, with great enthusiasm and passion. He has begun to update his apple orchard care and production skills through learning and following the path paved by his parents and grandparents. The new 2024 harvest, the Altuna Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin, is framed within this context. The Designation of Origin and local apple production are currently the cornerstones of this cider house's future.

Urnieta and the apple orchard.

Urnieta and the cider house Today, the Altuna family has 3 hectares surrounding their home. They also plan to plant more apples in the near future. These three hectares are mainly cultivated with the following types of apples:

• Urtebi Handi 
• Urtebi Txiki 
• Moko
• Goikoetxe

These four varieties are the signature varieties of the house, and along with several other native apple varieties, they have completed the first Altuna Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin from the 2024 harvest. 

Where can we get Altuna Euskal Sagardoa? 

Altuna Sagardotegia opens its doors for lunch and dinner during the cider house season. Throughout the year, however, it offers the option of purchasing bottled cider both directly from home and from local shops, bars, and associations. 

Now, Altuna also offers the option of having cider delivered to your home in just one click, directly from its online store. Those who want to visit the cider house during the season can also reserve a table for lunch or dinner directly on its website. 

What is the Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin? 

The Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin is a current and future project led by the apple and cider sectors of the Basque Country and sponsored by various institutions. Its primary objective is to lay solid foundations for the apple and cider sector, but also to offer consumers guarantees of local, quality products. In fact, the Designation of Origin has been built on two foundations: the local apple and quality.

• Native Apple: The Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin (DOC) has 106 native apple varieties, although 24 of them are primarily used. One of the treasures of Basque cider are our apples, which have been improved for centuries in our farmhouses and apple orchards with the goal of producing the best cider. These apple varieties were created and developed in the Basque Country, very well adapted to the conditions here and suitable for meeting the requirements of our DOC. 
• Quality: Euskal Sagardoa offers all the guarantees of quality, with strict controls from the apple orchard to the bottle. Basque ciders must undergo physical, chemical, and organoleptic analyses in the Fraisoro laboratory before being bottled. The entire process is controlled by the HAZI Foundation. 

Urnieta in the History of Cider 

Cider has been a drink in the Basque Country for hundreds of years. The oldest writings and references indicate that it has been a local beverage closely linked to our diet for centuries. This is also reflected in the more than 1,800 different varieties of native apples.

Furthermore, during the 15th and 16th centuries, cider consumption increased dramatically. From this arose the caseríos tolare, enormous cider-press farmhouses of the time for the production of cider in large quantities, and there were several of these in Urnieta.

Among other things, cider has also been a drink linked to the sea. It was part of the sailors' diet and, at the same time, made them less likely to get scurvy. 

Cider consumption suffered a sharp decline after the war and during the 1950s and 1960s, as people abandoned their farmhouses. Several families subsequently resumed cider making. 

Today, in Urnieta, we have six apple producers within the Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin, and between them, the town has 26 hectares of apple orchards. The Euskal Sagardoa Designation of Origin aims to ensure that, as was the case in the past, the native apple once again becomes the backbone of Basque cider production.