Txacolí is a thin white acidic wine that can be naturally fizzy and is traditionally served like cider, poured from a height into the glass.

Wine had traditionally been made in this manner for hundreds of years and was popular from the Middle Ages up to the end of the 19th century, when the vines were devastated by the phylloxera virus and the effects of industrialization of the Basque Country.

The red Hondarribi Beltza variety is much less common and is only found in significant quantities in the municipality of Bakio.

Near the coast, the vines are trained over pergolas, while inland, around the town of Balmaseda they are on trellises (en espaldera).

The climate around Bakio is cool, rainy and completely Atlantic, while inland around Balsameda, it is warmer, drier and more continental with micro-climates in each valley.