I found a lone bottle of the 2004 Doniene Gorrondona Bizkaiko Txakolina laying around, and opened it this weekend to drink with a saute of the first of the season local(from the woods next to my house) chantrelles with some shallots and green beans, olive oil over pasta. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've tried a wine made from Hondarribi Beltza, or the "red Txakolina". I read somewhere that this grape is related to Cab Franc.
It was very impressive. The wine has a good green note, something like wet fir needles more than bell pepper. It is lively in the mouth with lots of structure. For 12% alcohol, it also has substantial depth of flavor. The fruit is mostly of the black variety, and it finishes spicy. The back label states that this is fermented in steel tanks, which I think gives the tannins a rough unpolished quality. It went well with the mushrooms and string beans.
This comes from vines that are reportedly over 100 years old and are pre-phylloxera.
The website mentions that Gorrondona makes a barrel fermented Txakolina tinto. Is this available in the US, and has anyone tried this?