A New Cider Lover

I’m not particularly fond of ciders, so when La Bodega sent out an email advertising their next Virtual Tasting I wasn’t very excited about it. I forwarded the information along to Bryan anyway, just in case he was interested. Turns out, he was. He stopped by the shop and got the tasting kit for us on his way to doing some chores at the rental this last weekend.

The tasting was via Zoom again, but it was a more controlled session so we didn’t get Zoom Bombed this time. They also limited participation to just 10 people, making it was a lot more intimate and personal. Connection was an issue, however; the guest speaker kept cutting in and out so we’d miss what he was saying periodically.

The three ciders being featured were made by a cidery located out of Eugene, Oregon, called WildCraft Cider Works, founded by Sean Kelly. Sean gave us a tour of his shop and explained how he came to be the owner of a cidery. He told us how he sources apples, pears and botanicals within a 30-mile radius to craft his ciders. He uses natural yeasts to lend characteristic complexity to every bottle. Fermenting each ingredient individually, he harness the natural flavors before hand-blending to perfection. You’ll never find juice concentrates, added sulfates, extra sweeteners, or commercial yeasts in his high-quality beverages. 

The first cider to be tasted was called RUN OF THE MILL. Each year they harvest from thousands of trees and hundreds of varieties of apples. This cider is blend of ALL of these apples to create a complex yet simple and delightful sip. The method of blending utilized is called the solera method which is style of blending aged liquids year over year. Each year’s harvest is fermented and barrel aged in American oak barrels for 9 months before being added to the previous year’s blend. This cider contains the aged fermentation’s of 3 consecutive harvest seasons.

Next on the lineup was THE DANDY LION made from peaches, dandelion wine, and cider; aged in Granache Barrels until just right. This one had a very distinctive flavor that definitely put you out in a field of dandelions.

We ended our tasting tour with a special bottle of STRAWBERRY SPRUCE TIP cider, made with – you guessed it – strawberries and spruce tips. It was a very unique taste, and one that we were very lucky to get since it is not one that he makes very often.

I am happy to say that by the end of the tasting, my mind had been changed. I now like ciders! More to the point, perhaps, is that I like THESE ciders – and can confidently buy them knowing that I will be getting good pure cider, and nothing else.