PLACE: Irulegi (French Basque Country)

Irulegi is a small town of French Navarre, located about 5 km from Saint de Pied de Port and about 50 km southeast of Bayonne. Although few historic documents about the village exist prior to the 14th century, the dolmens found in the area lead us to believe that the town was settled earlier.

Irulegi's fame is due to the wine that it produces, the only one with the "Iparralde" Designation of Origin, and the only mountain wine in our country. It is also the wine region within France that has received the most awards at the Paris Competition in recent years.

The exact date in which the production of wine started in this part of the Basque Country is unknown, although we do know that it was already in existence in the Third Century during the Roman occupation. It was the Roncesvalles monks who definitively established the production of wine, thanks to the formation of agricultural centres after 1120. There were cultivated wine and walnuts, and especially apples for the production of cider, the most popular beverage.

The 18th century brought the greatest success of Irulegi wine. Its fame reached Germany, Holland, and England, where it was exported through the Port of Bayonne. In 1828 the vineyard grew to the size of 500 hectares, an area that has never been surpassed.

The 19th century saw the decline of the wine, as the area was overcome by plagues. Nonetheless, the vineyard was recovered and in 1906 reached 470 hectares. This revival was brought to an end by the arrival of the wine louse, and by the Second World War, when wine production was abandoned.

After the war new production began, and in 1945 the Union for the Defence of Irulegi wine was created. Years later, the wine would attain the Classification of High Quality Wine (1952) and the Designation of Origin (1970). During the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to the vine-replanting program, the area classified for the designation of origin has gone from 65 to 205 hectares (1998).