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Artea

Red · Artisan · Off-dry

Vermouth natural Ugabe

Ugabe Txakolina

Artea , España

7.4 /10

Vermutpedia Score: 7.4/10

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Overall impression

Ugabe Natural Vermouth is the vermouth of micro-winery Ugabe Txakolina, in Artea (Valle de Arratia, Bizkaia), in the Sarasola neighbourhood at the foot of Mount Gorbea. According to the official register at bizkaikotxakolina.eus, Ugabe is an acronym of Ugaitz and Begoña; the winery has 3 hectares of vineyard, its own bottling plant and fully artisan production. The vermouth is made Italian-style — less sweet than industrial vermouths — with Chardonnay base and 23 botanicals, many from around the vineyard, in 27-day maceration with organic cane integral sugar. Ugaitz Iturbe, trained in vermouth tradition after years in Italy and Piedmont, launched the first series of about 2,000 bottles bottled at the family garage winery. Limited production alongside house txakoli (~10,000 L/year total). For Vermutpedia, it represents the most honest Italian-style Basque vermouth: semidry, botanical and with Arratia valley soul, verifiable in the official DO Bizkaiko Txakolina register.

Nose and palate

The official profile and distributors describe a natural red vermouth with just bitterness, botanical power and dominant cinnamon; less sweetness than conventional commercial vermouth. On the nose, herbaceous and spiced intensity — wormwood, Gorbea herbs, orange peel, clove — over Chardonnay base that brings structure without excessive sweetness. On the palate, direct, honest entry with balanced bitterness and cinnamon notes that mark identity versus cloying industrial reds. 27-day maceration with 23 botanicals shows in layers: not a flat vermouth but an intense, natural profile in the sense of less added sugar and more visible botanicals. Compared with sweeter Basque vermouths, Ugabe keeps Italian verticality. Finish is persistent, spiced and inviting a second sip. For anyone seeking a semidry red with Arratia DNA and Piedmont training, this cinnamon-botanical profile offers a tasting coherent with Ugaitz Iturbe's philosophy and verifiable in DO and authorised distributor documentation.

How to serve it

Ugabe vermouth is drunk cold neat or on ice, in the line of Basque aperitivo in Marianito or Bilbao bar vermut preparado style. We recommend serving between 5 and 7 °C in a small glass or wide tumbler with moderate ice and an olive, where chill enhances freshness without cancelling botanical bitterness. Works in vermut preparado (60 ml Ugabe, soft bitter, lemon or orange twist) as an author recipe from Bizkaia bars. Also neat with pintxos, gildas, anchovies or northern cheeses. At room temperature it loses refreshing point; take from fridge just before serving. It does not demand elaborate cocktails: its value is in the direct glass and Basque aperitivo. Pairs with preserves, charcuterie and valley product cooking. Compared with sweet industrial vermouths, Ugabe asks for less garnish and more attention to bitterness. In Negroni it works when a drier, more botanical red is wanted. For Vermutpedia, Ugabe is drunk cold without pretension, as Artea micro-winery vermouth built for pintxos and Basque aperitivo.

Production context

Ugabe Txakolina makes at Sarasola 8, 48142 Artea (Bizkaia), 25 km from Bilbao, with 3 ha of vineyard and bottling at the family winery. Natural Vermouth starts from Chardonnay base wine infused 27 days with 23 botanicals — many from the vineyard surroundings — and organic cane integral sugar; Italian style, semidry. First series ~2,000 bottles; 15% vol., 75 cl. Operator: Ugaitz Iturbe Nazabal. Limited production by micro-winery size (~10,000 L/year total including txakoli). No wood ageing. Range: Ugabe txakoli + natural vermouth. Ugaitz fuses Arratia valley tradition with vermouth knowledge acquired in Italy. For Vermutpedia, Ugabe synthesises Artea artisan red vermouth: Chardonnay, 23 botanicals, semidry, unaged, verifiable at bizkaikotxakolina.eus. A Basque map piece with Italian soul and Gorbea terroir.

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Same type and style — Red · Off-dry

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