Six Plates Wine Bar likens Txakolifest to the Superbowl – they pull out all the stops (er, corks). Revelers came out to sample endless pours of Txakoli (pronounced “chah-coli”), a tart, fizzy white wine from the Basque region of Spain that’s best served by holding the bottle a considerable height above a drinker’s glass and pouring it from afar. Wine Authorities brought bottles of Akarregi Txiki, and also manned a cask of cider provided by Six Plates. There were mostly seafood nibbles (including a pork-clam mixture topped with peanut slaw and shrimp skewers) from Pizzeria Toro, Mateo Tapas, Vin Rouge, Watts Grocery, Blu Seafood, Saltbox Seafood Joint and ONE Restaurant. The Six Plates kitchen prepared fresh oysters and a sausage-stuffed whole pig (yes, you read that right). Txakolifest’s first session began at noon and benefitted Urban Ministries of Durham, before an evening session lasted late into the night. There was never a quiet moment, thanks to live music by Andrew Kasab, Kim Arrington, Matt Phillips & the Philharmonic, Morning Brigade and Blanko Basnet.
