Makatzak

Aitor Irazu founded Makatzak Wild Wines with his cousin, Jon Estebanez, in 2019, when they obtained the Sorgintxulo vineyard near the town of Aia in Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country. Aitor had worked previously at a local winery in the same city, and his cousin works as a carpenter. From the outset, the goal was to farm organically and biodynamically, and make wine with limited intervention in the cellar. Sargintxulo seemed like the perfect place to make this a reality. Aitor got to work reviving and farming the parcel.

The vineyard is a 3 hectare ecosystem, primarily planted to the local Hondarrabi Zuri grape, with some Hondarrabi Beltza. Extremely steep, facing south with slate soils and the traditional parral-trained vines, it is isolated from its neighbors and hadn't seen any chemical treatments in years. But Sargintxulo was in a difficult condition when they purchased it: abandoned five years before, it was full of various native plants and weeds, and required two years of hard work to recover to the point that it could produce grapes for wine. Makatzak's first successful harvest was in 2021; organic and biodynamic certifications are being sought and should be received in the next few years. In addition to his work at Sargintxulo, Aitor purchases grapes from a neighbor whose vineyard is inland from Sargintxulo and also farmed organically to make the wine Ghaur. 

In the cellar, Aitor Irazu works simply. After harvesting by hand in 10kg boxes, the grapes are fermented with native yeasts in neutral vessels and age in the same. Nothing is fined or filtered, and sometimes a small amount of sulfur (<15mg total) is added at bottling.


The Wines

Ghaur is 60% Hondarrabi Zuri and 40% Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia (aka Petit Courbu) from organically and biodynamically farmed vines planted at 400m in a 2-hectare parcel in the Mendarte area. The soils are sandy loam with bands of sandstone. The grapes are harvested and dstemmed, then pressed to ferment in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks with native yeasts. After fermentation, the wine rested on its les for ten months without bâtonnage in the same vessels. Bottled without fining or filtering and with only a small addition of SO2.

Harri Ta Zur is 90% Hondarrabi Zuri and 10% Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia from organically and biodynamically farmed  own-rooted vines planted at 300m in a south-facing 3-hectare parcel called Sorgintxulo near the town of Aia. The parcel is terraced and the vines are trained in pergolas.  The soils here are thin clay loam with calcareous and slate inclusions. The grapes are harvested and dstemmed, then pressed to ferment in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks with native yeasts. Partially through fermentation, the musts are transferred to 225L neutral oak barrels to finish fermenting and go through malolactic conversion. The wine rested on its les for ten months in the 225L barrels, with periodic bâtonnage. Bottled without fining, filtering or SO2 addition, then rested in bottle for 12 months more before release.

Location

General Info

  • Founded: 2019
  • Region: Gipuzkoa
  • Town: Aia
  • Climate: Atlantic
  • Soils: Predominantly slate
  • Farming: Organic and biodynamic 
  • Grower: Aitor Irazu

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