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Cider Houses in The Basque Highlands
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Conoce las tierras altas de Euskadi
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Cheese trail: Idiazabal
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A second plan is going to Ordizia, the key place if you’re into Idiazabal cheese. If you’re lucky enough to visit on a Wednesday, go to their market! The rest of the week you can walk the medieval town and d’Elikatuz, Goierri’s Nutrition and Gastronomy Interpretation Centre.
The land of Idiazabal also has other cheese houses and shepperd hut´s inside both Natural Parks that you can visit (only during summer season). If you are traveling in a group, you should not miss the chance of organizing a wine + cheese tasting!
Don’t forget to check Goierri’s schedule to keep an eye on their local festivities and gastronomic fairs during the fall.
These are the cheese houses you can visit:
– Ondarre cheese house. 13,050€ were paid at auction for just half of their cheese at the Idiazabal Cheese Competition held annually in Ordizia! If you visit this dairy, you will meet Goiburu family and they will show you their facilities and the sheep! You can also spend the night at their 500-year-old caserío, because it is also an farmhouse accommodation!
– Ondramuño cheese house. Brothers Aranburu -Javier, Juanjo y Jesús- will guide you through the cheese-making process, having the chance to taste different varieties of Idiazabal: white, smoked, young and aged. Their cheese was awarded the international ‘Super Gold’ at 2015 World Cheese Awards!
– Gaztañaditxulo cheese house. They have around 350 latxa sheeps. If you come visit them, you will see the shepherd dog working, you will have the chance to feed the lambs, see the milking… also see the process of making cheese and -of course- taste it with some natural cider!
– Garoa cheese house. Martina and Jon are passionate about heir job. You can visit them in their farm at the entrance to Zerain from approximately September to May because this family makes the transhumance and spends their summers in the Aralar Natural Park.
– Basazabal cheese house. Javier Muñoa is the shepherd of this traditional cheese factory located in a beautiful enclave and where, in addition to knowing the production process, you can see his flock.
– Baztarrika cheese house. Amelia and her family offer us the possibility of making Idiazabal cheese as well as seeing a photo exhibition about the life of the shepherd. You can buy local products in their little store.
– Otatza cheese house. Joseba Insausti is shepherd from Ordizia and he spent the year living between his hut in Aralar Natural Park and the family farmhouse located in Ordizia, one of the few remaining in the town. This is one of the shepherds who knows what is to get a prize in the famous Ordizia contest.
how to get there
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in Goierri
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in Goierri
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Get to know Euskadi’s highlands
Basque Highlands
Ordizia: seasonal cuisine with local products
how to get there
Explore other plans
in Goierri
Explore other plans
in Goierri
WE’LL HELP YOU PLAN
your trip
Fill out the form and let us know your preferences.
Get to know Euskadi’s highlands
Basque Highlands
Gastronomic Club: Goierri Gastronomika
Gastronomic Club
Goierri Gastronomika
Gastronomic Club
More than 30 members form this community: restaurants, cider houses, grills, bakeries, pintxos bars… many accommodation places, gastronomic museums, traditional producers, catering businesses, delicatessen shops and touristic services.
All these services will get you to knowing de local products from the Idiazabal land. You will get the change to buy meat directly from the farmer! Taste our products and taste Goierri’s way of life.
Goierri Gastronomika is part of Euskadi Gasronomika, a network of restaurants, bars, stores and other food-related services that meet high quality requirements.
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Gourmet shops
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Producers
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Caterers
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Tourist guides
Other local products: morcilla and mondeju
Other local products
Morcilla and mondeju
Other products
Beasain’s morcilla or black pudding follows the traditional recipe with onion, leek, pig’s blood, fat and spices. It is a very highly rated product with its own brotherhood that organises contests and tasting sessions. If you want to take home a piece of this local product, we recommend going to Olano’s butcher. Olano has been making this delicacy for 50 years now, and he was awarded the Brotherhood Prize eight times. You can also try any of the other butchers in Goierri. Each of them give their own nuances to the product, and the quality is always excellent.
Mondeju is a sausage traditionally prepared in Goierri using latxa sheep’s casing. It is similar to balck pudding but it presents a much lighter colour. The main place to get Mondeju is Zaldibia, where it has been held a contest for more than 20 years, during Sheep Day in October. In other towns, like Ataun, you can try a different variety: beltza or black mondeju. But what is mondeju, exactly? It is made in the farms of the region and it’s a filling of leek, pepper, egg, sheep’s tallow, chilli and some other spices wrapped up in the sheep intestine. The perfect timing to eat mondeju is between October and February.
During your visit, you can try Zegama’s walnut pastries –intxaur pastak-, Segura’s cake or Martintxo, a really special pie with almonds, chestnut and chocolate made to honour San Martín de Loinaz, the patron saint of Beasain. Apart from trying all these products in any of our restaurants, you can visit our gastronomic museums, Wednesday’s market in Ordizia, cider houses and many farms where you will be able to get the meat directly from the producer.
Gastronomic Club: Goierri Gastronomika More than 100 members form this community: restaurants, cider bars, grills, bakeries, pintxos bars…many accommodation places, gastronomic museums, traditional producers, catering businesses, delicatessen shops and touristic services.
Natural cider
Cider
Gastronomy
Cider
Tortilla de bacalao -cod omelette-, bacalao con pimientos -cod and peppers-, grilled steak, Idiazabal cheese together with local, handmade quince jelly and walnuts… and natural cider, from our barrels. In our sidrerías you usually sit in a long bench and share the place with the rest of the people, so the atmosphere is great. Natural cider is fresh, tasty drink, not strong at all. In cider bars in the Basque Country you just pay a ticket at the entrance -around 7€- and drink as much cider as you like.
There are five cider bars here in Goierri. The cider season goes from January to April, but in Goierri most of them are open all year round.
– Begiristain cider house*, in Legorreta: they produce around 125,000 litres of cider. They have their own apple crop.
– Oiharte cider house, in Zerain: Eguren family has been producing their own cider for generations. They do tours and tastings. They’re also a farmhouse where you can stay!
– Tximista cider house, in Ordizia: they have 14 barrels and produce 4,000 cider bottles.
– Urbitarte cider house, in Ataun: Demetrio Terradillos has an excellent touch on grilled fish and meat. Come try and take a walk through Aralar Natural Park, or enjoy our mythology in Barandiaran Museum.
There are five cider bars here in Goierri. The cider season goes from January to April, but in Goierri most of them are open all year round.
– Begiristain cider house*, in Legorreta: they produce around 125,000 litres of cider. They have their own apple crop.
– Oiharte cider house, in Zerain: Eguren family has been producing their own cider for generations. They do tours and tastings. They’re also a farmhouse where you can stay!
– Tximista cider house, in Ordizia: they have 14 barrels and produce 4,000 cider bottles.
– Urbitarte cider house, in Ataun: Demetrio Terradillos has an excellent touch on grilled fish and meat. Come try and take a walk through Aralar Natural Park, or enjoy our mythology in Barandiaran Museum.
Ordizia Market
Ordizia market
Every wednesday since 1512
Since the Middle Ages
The market impresses, and not only because of its imposing columns… It has quite a story behind its foundations! In the Middle Ages, the first market activities were held around San Bartolomé Hermitage. Unfortunately, the terrible fire that ravaged the town in March of 1512, only left a house and a church standing aside, which made the Queen Juana I de Castilla feel a great deal of sympathy for that people from Ordizia -formerly known as Villafranca-, giving them the authority to have their own free market, exempt from royal taxes, each Wednesday of the year.
The market definitely settled in the 18th century, being enormously boosted with the arrival of the train… and it remains like this until today. If you are a foodie, you will not want to miss the amazing products of the region that the market brings every season: around fifty stands show endless varieties of vegetables and fruit among which you will find pumpkins, apples, tomatoes, onions, chards, nuts, sloes, baby broad beans, lettuce… also mushrooms. Finished products like organic jam, corn cake, bread, quince jelly, goat, goat, cow and sheep cheese. Typical Basque products like Tolosa beans, Gernika peppers, Basque cake, natural cider, txakoli wine and of course… Idiazabal cheese.
But also lamb. And flowers! The special charm of the market is getting to know the producers. Watch Jose Mari Unzin selling his tomatoes or Itziar Etxebarria with her sheep cheese, natural cider and quince jelly. You will meet Jon Etxeberria, a beekeeper who comes from Ataun with his varieties of honey: rosemary, acacia, thyme, mixed flower and heather, as well as fresh pollen and royal jelly. Some stands apart you will find María Ángeles Tellería selling excellent eggs, and José Antonio Aizpuru, from Errezil, selling apples. Extraordinary market: Ferias Vascas and Shepherd’s Day These are the greatest days in Ordizia Market. If you have the chance, please don’t miss the date!
The first week of September -the closest day to Virgen de Arantzazu’s day on 9th of September- takes place an extraordinary market with a fruits and vegetables competition, a bovine animals contest, products exhibitions and the main attraction: competition of sheep cheese made by shepherds, and afterwards auction, organised by the Brotherhood of Idiazabal Cheese. During this holiday you will get a hint of the Basque folklore and traditions: dantzaris, txistularis and dultzaineros will keep your eyes open while they dance, sing and play. They bring life to the streets while the cheese are being carried to the venue, Frontón Beti Alai. Juan Mari Arzak, Pedro Subijana and many other world-famous Basque chefs save the date every year.
Precisely Arzak took home the winner cheese at the auction in 1980, bidding 12,000 pesetas (72€). Now, numbers got bigger: 13,050€ were paid for half a cheese in 2014; 8,200€ in 2017… Tasting the first cheese of the season Artzai Eguna -Shepherd’s Day- is your chance to see the sheep herd getting up to the mountains through the Natural Parks, to stay there during summer. This day is also where the first cheese of the season is tasted. This takes place in Ordizia Market, in April. Every year, a different well known chef or relevant person to Gastronomy, cuts the cheese and presents the new Idiazabal.
Idiazabal: awarded cheese
Idiazabal cheese
Awarded cheese
Idiazabal cheese
How to recognise Idiazabal cheese The cheese is cylindrical in shape -ivory colour or pale yellow- with a lingering aftertaste, a balanced, yet intense, flavour and light spicy, acid and smoky notes -the latter in the case of smoked cheese-. Before being ready to eat, an aging process of two months at least takes place. It is very useful as a cooking ingredient, being a great option in salads, cakes or souflé, as well as grated or melted.
Authentic Idiazabal cheese always includes the next elements that guarantee the designation of origin: – A label, with a red stripe, the name ‘Idiazabal’ and logo attached. – A back label, with a number and a series, coded according to size and type of cheese. – A casein label, affixed during manufacture, gives an ID number to the cheese.
Idiazabal cheese is one of the core dairy products in Europe: in 1992, it was nominated Product of the European Gastronomic Heritage by the French Ministry of Agriculture; in 1995, it was awarded Best European Sheep Cheese in Parma, Italy. Idiazabal cheese has been made in the Basque Country and Navarre for more than 8,000 years now. Both cheese and shepherds were highly acclaimed at the end of the 19th century, in the competitions of local Basque Fairs. They were also awarded in national competitions. Our shepherds won 30 out of the 40 prizes given between 1886 and 1903.
Nowadays they keep collecting awards not just national but international. Latxa sheep are native to Euskal Herria -Navarra and the Basque Country- and they are fed with the fresh grass of Goierri’s pastures during spring, summer and half autumn. During winter, they go down to the barn and are fed with mown grass and extra feed. Only from latxa sheep or carranzana -a local variety from Las Encartaciones, a region in Bizkaia- you can get the best milk to produce Idiazabal cheese. Raw, unpasteurised milk. Also their lambs’ rennet is an essential ingredient in the process of making Idiazabal cheese!
You can get your visit to a dairy -quesería- organised through the Cheese Tasting and Interpretation Centre, which is also a great place to visit with kids and let them know the story of our cheese.
These are the cheese houses you can visit:
– Ondarre cheese house. 13,050€ were paid at auction for just half of their cheese at the Idiazabal Cheese Competition held annually in Ordizia! If you visit this dairy, you will meet Goiburu family and they will show you their facilities and the sheep! You can also spend the night at their 500-year-old caserío, because it is also an farmhouse accommodation!
– Ondramuño cheese house. Brothers Aranburu -Javier, Juanjo y Jesús- will guide you through the cheese-making process, having the chance to taste different varieties of Idiazabal: white, smoked, young and aged. Their cheese was awarded the international ‘Super Gold’ at 2015 World Cheese Awards!
– Gaztañaditxulo cheese house. They have around 350 latxa sheeps. If you come visit them, you will see the shepherd dog working, you will have the chance to feed the lambs, see the milking… also see the process of making cheese and -of course- taste it with some natural cider!
– Garoa cheese house. Martina and Jon are passionate about heir job. You can visit them in their farm at the entrance to Zerain from approximately September to May because this family makes the transhumance and spends their summers in the Aralar Natural Park.
– Basazabal cheese house. Javier Muñoa is the shepherd of this traditional cheese factory located in a beautiful enclave and where, in addition to knowing the production process, you can see his flock.
– Baztarrika cheese house. Amelia and her family offer us the possibility of making Idiazabal cheese as well as seeing a photo exhibition about the life of the shepherd. You can buy local products in their little store.
– Otatza cheese house. Joseba Insausti is shepherd from Ordizia and he spent the year living between his hut in Aralar Natural Park and the family farmhouse located in Ordizia, one of the few remaining in the town. This is one of the shepherds who knows what is to get a prize in the famous Ordizia contest.
The Champions of Idiazabal!
The Wednesday of September closest to 9th of September, the day of the Virgin, it takes place in Ordizia one of the most relevant competitions in the country: the annual competitions of latxa sheep cheese made by shepherds. From 1904 until the present day, this event is considered the Idiazabal Champions League. World-famous Basque chefs never miss the date, since it’s also a part of Basque culture. Participation ranges between 50-60 shepherds, though one year 109 of them competed. The auction of the winners is one-of-a-kind: in 1980, Juan Mari Arzak bid 12,000 pesetas (72€) and took home the winner cheese. Now, numbers got bigger and cheese is almost as valued as any Sotheby’s piece of fine art: 13,050€ were paid in 2014 for half of the winner cheese (approximately 550 grams) from Quesería Ondarre!
Introduction of new cheese
For more than 20 years, Ordizia helds in April the presentation of the young cheese of the season, on Easter Wednesday. That day, a prestigious cook slices the cheese and shepherds are honoured. They walk through the town with their flocks of sheep, representing the start of summer and the climb to the mountains to eat the pastureland.
