GuytheGrape

What do you think?

A while ago in an idle moment, ie before we planted a vineyard and idle moments became a thing of the past, it occured to me that the taste of apple juice is no less interesting than grape juice, in fact often it has more subtlety and character. From our semi in suburbia I thought about how great it would be if somebody got the chance with the right apples to make bottle fermented cider using sparkling wine techniques. The coincidence that exactly the right mix of apples remain in our old orchard is gobsmacking. It is what made me think that living here was just meant to be. Bramleys for acidity, Golden Nobles, Morgans and Arthur Turners for sweetness and just enough old local Aller cider varietals that nobody seems to be able to identify for body. We picked our first crop in 2008 using a wheelie bin to get them to the car - who would have thought that an old Mercedes estate could carry a third of a ton of apples. There are long winded debates within the Cork Dorks of this world abo