2021 Part of a Balanced Breakfast

Cider is maybe having a moment again. It kind of almost had a moment in like 2014/2015, but I think the development of the natural wine community since then is making people more open to trying other beverages. There are some great american producers that have been focusing on cider, and many people dabbling with coferments of different fruit. Many winemakers will get juice from larger production orchards/producers to ferment and these to me are the apple musts that make sense for mixed fermentation. From my observations and discussions with other apple specialists like Aaron from Bardos, to make great apple-only cider here in california, you really want to be working with old, unmanaged/neglected, dryfarmed orchards. Just like you dont want grapes from overcropped and over irrigated vineyards, you want apples with concentration and lower nutrients that are slightly stressed.

The Orchard: My friend Riley O’Niel Latta(check his wines and ciders) found this “orchard” through family friends. Planted in Corralitos in the 1880s originally, its more of an apple hobbyist homestead than a production orchard. There have been some additional plantings and replants in the 20s and 40s. Ignored for over a decade, the trees are all doing their own thing. Some produce fruit while others choose not to each year. Pruning is shunned and instead we prop up branches where some trees need support. There is a very large mixture of apples (and some pears) out there. I really can’t tell you most of whats what though.

The wine: This was kind of the harvest come-down for me. Riley and I went out with friends on weekends after all the grapes were in. We picked what seemed right. Everyone doing whatever they wanted. Someone made tea. We ate sausages and drank wines and didnt work more than 4 hours in a day ever. As friends were harvesting apples into picking bins that we ratchet strapped to wagons, Riley and I operated the press and mill, dumping juice into tanks in the back of our trucks and returning the pressed apple pomace to the trees in wheelbarrows. So many people told me that cider without bubbles sucked, so I had to make one(I’d be lying if I said part of me just couldn’t be fucked bottling another petnat right then). And with a site as special as this, I felt like it deserved the fancy white wine treatment. So this was fermented and aged in barrel on full lees until it seemed stable and delicious. I hesitate to call this cider and want to just call it wine. It’s very pretty and elegant and light. Hydrating and nourishing and too easy to drink. 

Combined orders of 3, 6, or 12 bottles only please :D Flat-rate $30 for shipping

Orders will begin shipping Dec 12th. Combined orders of 3, 6, and 12 bottles only please. Must be 21 or older to order. Adult signature required for delivery. Shipping unavailable for ND, NH, UT, MS, AL, VT, KY, SD.