(Photo: Noah Sheldon )

By now Spanish-wine lovers have become familiar with the slightly fizzy, thirst-quenching charms of white Txakoli, the effervescent Basque wine that’s poured rather dramatically from a great height into a flat tumbler, a tradition that awakens the tiny bubbles and makes quite a visual impact at tapas bars around town. Much rarer is its lesser-known pink sibling, the Ameztoi Rubentis, currently in very limited supply in a handful of local wine shops. Wine geeks will want to know that it’s an old-vines blend of the indigenous Hondarrabi Beltza and Hondarrabi Zuri grapes, vinified in stainless steel, and only 11 percent alcohol by volume. Everyone else can just relish its tutti-frutti aroma, almost tart-sour acidity, and nearly weightless body. The stuff is so refreshing they could bottle it as a sports drink. $21 at Tinto Fino, 85 First Ave., nr. 5th St.; 212-254-0850.

2007 Ameztoi Rubentis Getariako Txakolina

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