If sagardoa (sagar/apple+ardoa/wine) means cider in Basque, udardoa means perry (udarea/pear+ardoa/wine). Some years ago I didn’t even know that perry existed, neither I had heard about the wide tradition it has in England, Wales and other countries like Austria.
Apparently, perry was also produced in ancient times in the Basque Country together with apple cider. But nowadays it’s hard to find any Basque perry in the market. The only one I know is the one produced by Araeta Sagardotegia in Zubieta, which is a sagardoa style perry, very similar to the natural cider but, of course, with different flavors. I had the occasion to taste it poured from the tank past year, and I bought some bottles to take home too.
I have to say that for me the one in the barrel was much better that the bottled one. Perhaps because it was made with the 2017 crop, unlike the bottled perry, which was from 2016. As you know, Basque natural cider is recommended to drink within 2 months and 1 year after bottling.
The one poured from the barrel was much more fresh and vivid (“bizia”, the way we like to call it here), and it had much more of the characteristic natural spark. Those properties lower in the bottle, but it was still good. Very interesting product, however, on which I will keep an eye just to see how it’s developed.
This picture was taken for the Sagardo Forum International Cider Conference organized by The Basque Ciderland, in which cider was served using the special Prior Cork pouring corks and we had a dinner at Araeta cider house.
