An ongoing collaborative project with friend and fermentation guru Lucien Alperstein, this cider is their first release to ever use apples deliberately planted and grown in an orchard.

Later-harvest varieties of apples, primarily Kingston Black, Dabinett, Somerset Redstreak and Bramley, with a handful of others rounding out the blend were used. Dabinetts are known for adding some spicy, smoky character as well as helping bump up the ABV. Kingston Black, sometimes referred to as the perfect cider apple because of it’s rich flavour and balance of acid, sugar and tannin, provides depth. Somerset Redstreaks have a beautiful balance of acid and tannin and had the most heady, floral smell that made us think a tree nearby must have been flowering out of season.

Working with these beautiful varieties is new for Topher and Chris, so working out exactly what blend to pick and which apples lend which characteristics to a finished cider will be an ongoing process.

Natural fermentation kicked off with a pie de cuvee (the winemaking equivalent of a sourdough starter) and finished completely dry. It’s come in at a healthy 8.2% ABV. Secondary fermentation in bottle has given it a healthy level of carbonation, which plays nicely with the lightly drying, tannic finish.

Wine-drinkers not familiar with more traditional dry, sparkling cider should think “skin contact pet nat” more than “regular cider”. There’s no sweetness, and though there is definitively some apple character shining through, there’s a lot of complexity and depth here too.