Oiarbide, the cider house of the Zabalegi family.

Oiarbide Sagardotegia offers us the traditional cider house menu in the “Tolarea” farmhouse it owns in Astigarraga.

Small, coquettish, familiar and very traditional, this is how the Oiarbide cider house of Astigarraga is presented to us. This establishment is one of the many that offer us our beloved sagardoa (cider) to the txotx, from the kupela (barrel) to the glass, without intermediate processes. One of the most ancestral and traditional ways of tasting and enjoying Basque cider. Oiarbide, is a sagardotegi of all the life, an establishment, in which the Zabalegi family welcomes us inviting us to enjoy its culinary good work and the excellent broth that keeps its small and old wooden kupelas. In addition, this sagardotegi has an added charm, and it is that, Oiarbide has its own apple press, with its own “tolarea”, a space, that unfortunately every day is more difficult to find in our territory. We invite you to read the museum article“Igartubeiti, the lord of the Basque farmhouses” to see the enormous wooden press that was used in the 16th century to extract the juice from the apples, the must, which later, through natural processes, would become the prized cider.

The more than 100 years of cider production that testify the walls of this cider house (one of the oldest in Astigarraga) and the quality of its traditional menu, have raised this sagardotegi to figure as one of the fashionable cider houses in Astigarraga. And no wonder, in 2017, Oiarbide was winner of the “Sagardo Txapelketa” held by the Elur Txori association, a competition of high level and where only the great wines manage to be at the top of the ranking. Of course, like all establishments, it also has its black spots, its weaknesses. And the fact is that, just as we praise the quality of its products, we must also point out that their quantity does not meet the expectations created around the good name of Oiarbide. Do you want to know more details about this sagardotegi? Stay tuned because we’re getting started!

Sebastián, the aitite (grandfather) that we find among the kupelas, follows in the footsteps of Francisco, his predecessor. He is the one who opens the kupelas of Oiarbide, enjoying like a child with each “txotx”, of each “cuadrilla” that passes by his house. A host with a thousand and one stories, who does not hesitate to take pictures, open the kupelas or give us his preferences regarding the ciders, a model to follow.

According to what they tell us, the apples used for the cider production they make every year, about 100,000 liters, are mostly local apples, from their own production. A fact that clashes a little with the lack of the Euskal Sagardoa Denomination of Origin certificate, a certificate that guarantees that the cider is made only with 100% Basque apples and under strict and exhaustive production processes.

The Oiarbide cider house is located on the first floor of the farmhouse of the same name, a space distributed in 3 different rooms, offering a magnificent atmosphere between kupelas and tables. On the outside, the parking lot, the huge grill and the benches that are attached to the facade, represent a great place to enjoy the sunny winter days. We must indicate, that the tables and benches of this cider house, give us the option to eat standing or seated, and is that, although formerly always ate standing in front of the kupelas, every day more and more people prefer to eat seated.

Location: Oiarbide is located in the upper part of Astigarraga, in the mountain, next to the Sarasola cider house. A space of difficult access, in which the buses have a somewhat complicated role to access. If you venture to access by bus, perhaps the best option is to leave it at the fork that we found before Sarasola, and access from there to the Oiarbide cider house walking, are hitting and save us more than one headache. The Oiarbide parking lot, of small dimensions (30 vehicles), fills up easily, so we recommend arriving early if we do not want to have problems to park our car. Oiarbide can be accessed by 3 roads, all of them narrow, steep and two-way, typical characteristics of all roads that lead to the sagardotegis that are located on the slopes of the mountains of Astigarraga. Many people try to access walking, we do not recommend it, and is that, besides being quite far from the center, in winter, the rains are very common and together with the steep access roads can become a problem.

Kupelas: The wooden kupelas (barrels), original and worth seeing, are located throughout the cider house, in the 3 rooms. Normally, in Oiarbide they usually have at least 2 of them open, a fact that helps to avoid long queues when filling our glasses of cider. The room with the most kupelas is the one we find as soon as we enter on the left hand side, the biggest and most bustling of the rooms in this cider house. Although, as it is logical, the taste of each one of them varies slightly, we must say that all of them have a high quality cider. Remember that Oiarbide also sells bottled cider throughout the year, so if you feel like taking home a bottle, you can ask the person who is serving you for price and availability.

Traditional menu: The traditional sagardotegi menu, the usual one, is composed of cod omelette, cod with peppers, chop and dessert (cheese with walnuts and quince jelly). A menu that in the case of Oiarbide can be modified by changing the cod with peppers for cod in sauce. If you want to make this change in your menu, it is necessary to indicate it at the time of booking. In our case, we opted for the traditional menu, with no changes. When we arrived at Oiarbide they showed us the table we were going to occupy and invited us to take one of the glasses we found at the entrance to enjoy the cider made by the Zabalegi family. So we did. The table, long and long, easily and comfortably accommodated 14 people from the group.

The time between courses was a bit long, perhaps too long, we imagine that the result of the large number of people who visited Oiarbide that day. The rest of the components of the menu (bread, water and cider) were unlimited, as much as needed.

Price: The price of the traditional menu in Oiarbide is about 30€, a usual price in the cider houses of Euskal Herria. Of course, you cannot talk about the price of a sagardotegi without first checking the quality and quantity of the dishes offered. In this case, although the quality was extraordinary, the quantity was scarce. 14 people per table, 3 dishes per table. Conclusion, one dish for 4 people, all except the chops, which were 2 for each 4. In case of wanting to repeat, the price of the menu would be increased depending on the number of dishes to be repeated. As I said, it was a bit scarce.

Attention: The attention was good throughout our stay, nothing to reproach. Good atmosphere, good attention, good experience. It is curious to see how Sebastián, a person of advanced age (past 80), continues to be between kupelas, helping anyone who requires it. We must take into account that during the txotx season, the cider houses are flooded with people, practically collapsing, it is not easy to maintain order and good service with so many people.

What to see: Since we are in Astigarraga, we can take the opportunity to visit such emblematic and traditional places of the area as Sagardoetxea (the museum of the Basque cider) or the Galarreta fronton (the cathedral of the ski lift).

The kupelas, small and wooden, the tallow closing old openings and the smell of cider, makes Oiarbide maintain the charm of those cider houses of 100 years ago, a luxury. Although it is not very well known, Oiarbide is a great option to enjoy a menu and a high quality cider, but we must take into account that the quantity is not the same as we are used to in other establishments of this type. We are waiting for your opinions!