page_title: Sagardotegi
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Sagardotegi / Basque cider / Production
caption_attribution_description: Euskara: Sagarren bilketa.
context_page_description: A sagardotegi is a type of cider house found in the Basque Country where Basque cider and traditional foods such as cod omelettes are served. Modern sagardotegis can broadly be described as a cross between a steakhouse and a cider house.
  Most Basque cider, like most cider varieties in Spain, is called "natural" because, unlike many other European varieties, it is still, instead of sparkling. It normally contains 4-6% alcohol and is served directly from the barrel in a sagardotegi.
context_section_description: The archetypal sagardotegi in the 16th century would typically resemble a low, two storey farm-building with a tiled roof. The three main parts of such a sagardotegi were the pressing area, the storage area and the kitchen.
  The intricate pressing machine was spread across both floor levels. It essentially consisted on a large cantilevered beam (dolare haga) which passed between the two central vertical support beams (dolare zutabeak) of the building. The fixed end was held in place by a wooden beam (dolare zutabeak) right beside the actual press. The far end of the beam sat around a tall wooden screw (ardatza) which ran between beams under the roof (gain hagak) and the ground floor of the building, ending in a capstan-like turning mechanism. At the bottom end of the screw hung a stone weight (pisu harria) which rotated in a hole in the ground. By turning the screw at the ground floor level, the horizontal beam on the first floor would gradually be pulled downwards and, along with the gravitational pull, exert pressure on the apple press at the far end. The apple press itself consisted essentially of a wooden base with a surrounding groove to catch the juices upon which the apple pomace is placed and a wooden platform which pressed down on the apples.  Today, modern machinery is used to press the apples.
  Apples are collected from the end of September onwards until the middle of November using the kizkia, a tool that resembles a stick with a nail in it. They are then scratted (crushed) into pomace in the matxaka but without cracking the seeds as this would add a bitter taste. The pulp (patsa) is then transferred to a press and the must (muztioa) collected (or caught on the ground floor in a vat (tina) in the medieval style sagardotegi), processed and stored in barrels (usually oak or chesnut) in the storage area to mature.
  The barrels vary in size, the smaller are called barrikotea and hold up to 100l, the barrika holds between 100-600l, the bukoia between 600-1000l and the (k)upela or (k)upa more than 1000l.
  The must undergoes two fermentations: 
  the first or alcoholic fermentation, an aerobic process where the natural sugar is converted to alcohol. This lasts, depending on the circumstances, between 10 days and 1.5 months.
  the second fermentation where the malic acid is converted to lactic acid. This reduces the sourness of the cider and makes it fit for consumption. This fermentation takes between 2–4 months.
  Must in the Basque Country typically contains 
  The finished cider typically has an alcohol content of 5-6%. The minimum is 4.5% according to Spanish Law, less than 100 mg/l sulphur dioxide, less than 2.2g/l volatile acid and a CO2 pressure over 1.5atm (at 20C°).
caption: Collecting apples the traditional way
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