Isastegi is an old family estate located in the town of Tolosa in the Basque Country of Spain. The estate was originally covered by pastures for cattle, with only a few apple trees for the family to make a small amount of cider for itself. In 1983 they decided to switch from livestock to cider output and started selling their cider to the public. Pastures were replaced by orchards and a small part of the house became dedicated to cider production. Over the years the demand for Isastegi cider has increased and the family’s country house has adapted to the changes. Recent renovations added new state-of-the-art pressing and bottling rooms as well as a larger space for the kupelas (old, large, oak cider barrels) and the txotx (spring tasting) season visitors. The folks at Isastegi pride themselves on their local focus, supplementing their own orchards’ yields by buying all the rest of the apples that are grown locally in Tolosa, and only resorting to using apples from Galicia and France during years with insufficient harvests. Every spring the people of Tolosa gather at Isastegi to celebrate txotx season by tasting the new vintage of cider while enjoying the traditional meal of cod omelets, fried cod and grilled steak.
