Les Vergers Lafrance - a Multiforme Cidrerie, Vignoble, Domaine, & Distillateur

Perhaps our favorite craft beverage stop during our Quebec visit was to Les Vergers Lafrance, a multifaceted establishment located just outside of Saint-Joseph-du-Lac. This municipality is surrounded by panoramic mountain views, orchards, and a truly rustic countryside.  LaFrance participates in providing these orchards with their 30 hectares of 13,000 apple trees, 4,000 grape vines, 500 pear trees and 250 plum trees. And the apple trees are distributed among 20 different apple varieties.  Besides les vergers, LaFrance is a cidery, winery, distillery, maple producer, and restaurateurs.

Vignoble Lafrance is composed of more than 4,000 grapevines, particularly all shades of Frontenac  and Sabrevois -- both cold climate grapes bred at the University of Minnesota. LaFrance uses the grapes exclusively for the production of spirits. One of these is their Dandy Gin which is a fruit distillate made from apple, pear and grape eau-de-vie as well as our Marc de Raisins eau-de-vie. The botanicals consist of selected herbs and apple tree flowers from the estate orchards. Need less to say, this gin is quite floral, with less juniper but more citrus. 

The distilling operation started in 2013, when Domaine Lafrance acquired an alembic still made in Bordeaux by the Stupfler family. This family has been producing stills for four generations starting in 1925. Lafrance produces almost a dozen spirits and aperitifs as well as a range of ready to drink cocktails. We also purchased a bottle of the Quartier Lafrance - a Grand Marnier inspired spirit made from 50% Georges-Étienne apple brandy and 50% caramelized orange liqueur. Try to beef up are cocktail options with this surprisingly drier and complex liqueur.

Les Vergers LaFrance is also a purveyor of maple products available in their Sugar Shack. The maple products are made from the syrup from 200 Maple trees that are processed in early Spring during sugar season. 

Despite all these endeavors, the prime focus of the enterprise is cider where they produce close to 20 different cider products. This includes the canned Bio Sparkling Organic Cider and Bio Organic Rosé Cider that complemented the suddenly sunny afternoon picnicking in front of the Boutique. Another easy option was the canned Darragon dit Lafrance sparkling cider. And please try the Rick Special blend #3, an unfiltered sparkling brut cider that was fermented in ice cider barrels.  We didn't sample any of the still ciders, but had to bring home a miniature of the Domaine LaFrance Ice Cider. I would have brought full 375ml bottles of all their ice ciders, but was leery of crossing the border with a weeks worth of cider and beer. These are elegant ice ciders. 

New York's Passive House Certified and Organic Seminary Hill Orchard & Cidery

This month I received two ciders from New York's Seminary Hill Orchard & Cidery as part of the BevFluence New Perspectives on Cider campaign.  Seminary Hill is located in the western Catskills, specifically in Callicoon, a small town on the Delaware River that separates New York and Pennsylvania. It is owned by Chicagoans Doug Doetsch and Susan Manning although Doetsch's pedigree in the region extends back multiple generations.  The property is named after a Romanesque-style seminary that Franciscan priests built in 1901. Besides the cider house, which utilizes wood reclaimed from the now-demolished Tappan Zee Bridge, the property includes a Boarding House that occupies a former hospital and doctor's office. 

Through the assistance of architect James Hartford and River Architects, Seminary Hill is the world's first Passive House certified alcoholic beverage facility.  Many people are more familiar with the LEED sustainable building certification, but the Passive House certification identifies "a handful of practices that have the biggest effect. This makes it simpler for more people to get involved in making sustainable buildings and thus increases the cumulative effect. Through computer modeling, it was determined that the key elements were a super-tight envelope, with all air exchange going through an energy recovery ventilator; high levels of insulation; and solar orientation and shading to gain solar heat in the winter and reject it in the summer." 

Although Seminary Hill is a relatively new operation, they utilize the services of long-time cider-maker Stuart Madany. I first encountered Stuart 11 years ago when he was the cidermaker at Castle Hill Cider in central Virginia and introduced us to cider aged in Georgian Kevri. See Winemaker Series: Castle Hill Cider & Kvevri.  Through email, he was able to explain some of the differences and similarities between cider-making in New York State and Central Virginia:

Both New York State and Central Virginia have pretty well-developed tasting room cultures - so to speak. People like to go and spend time tasting various craft beverages and visiting the places they're made. I think Harvest-Driven cider is probably a little more prevalent and a little more broadly appreciated in New York.

Certainly, the soil is different with the tremendous amount of rock and ledge here. My first week here someone told me that the gardeners here have a saying, that there are two rocks here for every dirt. There's a good bit of clay here too, but not as red as the heavy clay of Central Virginia.

And of course, the growing season is shorter, with colder, and snowier winters.

For me, the big difference this translates into is which varieties really shine in the cider. We're not growing Black Twig here, and the GoldRush I've found to be underwhelming. But, there are extremely exciting bittersweets and aromatic apples up here. While Harry Master's Jersey, or Tremlett's Bitter might give you a bit of aroma along with their high tannin in Virginia, they can be bursting with aroma and flavor up here. The French Amere de Bethencourt has some fantastic exotic spiciness. Aromatic apples like Ribston Pippin and Egremont Russet are also just packed with aroma and wonderful to work with. I'm hoping to have more apples of these varieties to work with this fall.

For the BevFluence tasting, we received two ciders representing the breadth of the Seminary Hill Orchard. The Delaware Dry 2020 is a bone-dry blend of Chisel Jersey (bittersharp) 42%, Baldwin (sharp-sweet) 26%, Golden Russet (sharp) 20%, and Northern Spy (sharp-sweet) 12%. Slightly sweeter, the Cackling Hen 2021 is a semi-sweet blend of Dabinett (bittersweet) 35%, Wickson (sweet) 19%, Newtown Pippin (sharp) 15%, Chisel Jersey (bittersharp) 8%, Golden Russet (sharp) 7%, GoldRush (sharp) 4%, Harry Master's Jersey (bittersweet ) 4%, Puget Spice (bittersharp) 2%, and others 6%. See the LARS classification below for what each apple variety contributes to the blend.

Because the orchard is so young and there are very few cider apple growers in the area, Seminary Hill decided to plant as many varieties as possible in order to determine which are most suitable for Sullivan County in terms of both harvest size and flavor. In total, Seminary Hill's orchard contains 54 apple varieties and 7 perry pear varieties. This explains the large number of apple varieties in each of these ciders but obscures the number of blending and small-batch trials used to create each composition. According to Madany, "Eventually, it will mean that our blends reflect the best of the potential of our spot on earth".

Being a new orchard, Seminary Hill is working through its pest management regime, particularly being an organic cidery.  Fire blight is a contagious bacterial disease that can only be prevented and is becoming more of a problem in New York over the last couple of yours. Infected trees must have the fire blight 'strikes' cut out after infection.  Cooler weather, particularly through the bloom season, helps contain this bacteria. 

The labels of the two ciders also reflect the history and geography of the region -- obviously Delaware Dry for the river. Dutch hunters tracked beaver along the Delaware River during the 1600s and the town of Callicoon is based on the Dutch "Kollikoon" which means: wild turkeys. Thus Cackling Hen references both the town and wild turkeys -- which are still abundant today. 

On the palate, the Delaware Dry contains a tasteful, fleshy, and chewy distribution of tannins and acidity  There are also noticeable malic qualities providing a long and clean finish.  The Cackling Hen has a stronger nose and is more tart and tannic which I think the sugar and fleshy apple flavors help control. I added a little Sagebird Cider Pommeau which accentuates the acidity while tamping down the tannins, and without adding much additional sweetness. 

LARS Classification:
Sweet (low acid, low tannin)
Sharp (high acid, low tannin)
Bittersweet (low acid, high tannin)
Bittersharp (high acid, high tannin)

Old Growth Orchard Ciders from British Columbia's Lonetree Cider

This month I received three ciders through the BevFluence® New Perspectives on Cider, Perry, and Brandy campaign that's from an interesting source. These are Canadian ciders, and more specifically, old-growth orchard ciders, from Lonetree Cider.

Lonetree Cider is located in British Columbia and was introduced to us through Cider Canada / Cidre Canada. They use solely B.C. grown fruit from family orchards within the Kelowna region of the Okanagan Valley. In fact, their grower cooperative is composed of 500 family orchardists who may have had to uproot the orchard in favor of more lucrative vineyards if not for Lonetree. and these ciders help subsist these orchards. The cidery also chose to emphasize the Old Growth aspect of these orchards as the label signifies that many of these trees are over 80 years old.

Authentic Dry Apple Cider
This dry cider is made from a blend of old-world cider apples, such as Belle de Boskoop and Bramley, then fermented with table apples; MacIntosh, Spartan, and Golden Delicious. I was planning on sipping with a shot of Campari, as is my usual custom with dry ciders, but the cider was so flavorful I didn't want to waste the savory contents. 

Apple Ginger Cider
This cider is made from apples and real ginger and this Ginger Cider is intense. Intensely ginger. Which translates to "let's use as an ingredient for a cocktail". One of my favorite cocktails calls for equal parts ginger beer and grapefruit juice with a healthy dose of pitorro rum. Tonight I used the Ginger Cider and the earthy Three Rum Estate Rhum Agricole from Louisiana. This makes a funky and refreshing cocktail. An old-growth, cane-to-glass cocktail.

Apple Rhubarb Cider
Apples and rhubarb. Now, being from the Mid-Atlantic, I'm really not sure what rhubarb tastes like. What I can say, is this cider provides a tasteful combination of apples and red berries with tartness and acidity to lift the sugars. And it does pair nicely with Buc-ees Cherry Maple beef jerky. 

The Virginia Cider Trail Coincides with the BevFluence Cider: New Perspectives on Cider, Perry, and Brandy Campaign

This is a big month for Virginia Cider. Last week the American Cider Association (ACA) announced the launch of the Virginia Cider Trail where users of the app can win prizes and receive discounts at participating cider houses. And it just happened that this summer I have already visited four of these establishments. And I believe I was the first to officially check-in using the Virginia Cider Trail app at Sage Bird Ciderworks and Ciders from Mars. 

In addition, our partner site at BevFluence has opened brand registration today for their Cider: New Perspectives on Cider, Perry, and Brandy campaign. The cider, perry, and brandy products will be presented to a combination of industry experts, mixologists, bartenders, creators, bloggers, writers, and other media – and across the craft beverage landscape. This will generate new perspectives about cider, perry, and apple brandy from creators who range from cider novices to experts. I also plan on taking the ACA's Certified Cider Professional (CCP) exam during this campaign and using the ciders with my training guide. Brands and content creators can register here for the BevFluence campaign or learn more about the CCP here.

Lost Boy Cider is an urban cidery in Alexandria and sources its fruit from various orchards in the Shenandoah Valley. In early June they hosted one of four sessions on the Virginia Cider Road Show presented by the ACA. After a brief overview of Lost Boy by cidermaker Dave, the ACA's Jennie Dorsey provided a history of cider, a history of cider in North America, and then the history of cider in Virginia. She then provided a brief overview of Virginia's three most important apple varieties: Newton (Albemarle) Pippin, Hewes VA Crab, and Harrison. She finished by discussing the ACA's Apple classes (bittersweet, bittersharp, sweet, & sharp); ACA Cider Families (cider, perry, fruit cider, botanical cider, & dessert ciders); cider cocktails; and cider-food pairings. Yes, a boatload of information was packed within each session. We finished with a food and cider pairing featuring cheeses from Cheestique. I think the Barrel-Aged cider paired with the Appalachian cheese, dried pear, and balsamic vinegar was my favorite -- very complimentary.

Castle Hill Cider is located east of Charlottesville in Keswick and has an interesting history regarding the propagation of cider apples. As stated on their website:

Colonel Thomas Walker, the original owner of Castle Hill Estate, was the first to bring Newtown Pippin apple scions to Central Virginia following his return from the Battle of Brandywine in 1777.  The variety was planted at Castle Hill and became known as the Albemarle Pippin apple.

And as most Virginia cider lovers know, the Albemarle Pippin is still one of the signature Virginia apple varieties and was even exported to England throughout the 1800s.  Castle Hill Cider was founded in 2020 and the estate is planted with 6,500 trees featuring more than 30 apple varieties including Albemarle Pippin, Black Twig, Harrison, Burford Red Fresh, GoldRush, Dabinett, Hewes Crab, and Wickson Crab. The ciders are bottled in either 750ml or 375ml bottles and range from sweet to dry. 

During our visit, we choose a Classic flight and a Barrel aged flight. The majority of the group preferred the Terrestrial 2020 where the tannins and slight RS are balanced. It's also an interesting blend that includes Black Twig, Winesap, and Ashmead's Kernel. Personally, I preferred the funky, dry, and naturally fermented in quevri Levity 2020. Is this the only American cider fermented and aged in Georgian quevri?

For the barrel-aged ciders, the Hewes Pommeau Reserve is fascinating with complexity created by four years of aging in Woodford Reserve barrels and Keswick Winery wine puncheons. I also enjoyed the Silver Bough where Dabinett and Golden Hornet ciders were aged over a year in rum barrels.

Sage Bird Ciderworks is located in downtown Harrisonburg and opened a couple years ago after the persistently hard work of Zach and Amberlee Carlson. This is the first cidery in the home of the Dukes and they offer an excellent array of various styles. I settled on a flight of five ciders - slightly more than the paddle size. The clear favorite was the Dry River Reserve -- their flagship brut cider made from a blend of Virginia-grown apples. The Peaches For Me fits perfectly into the upcoming BevFluence campaign since the cider was aged in used apple brandy barrels. The oak treatment is noticeable -- providing a peaches and cream feel with a boost of apple flavors. Finally, an interesting geographic cider is their Stay Gold, a dry cider inspired by West Virginia's official state fruit, the famed Golden Delicious apple. 

Ciders from Mars is located about 30 miles south in downtown Stanton across the street from both Ox Eye Vineyards and Redbeard Brewing Company. So no excuses for not visiting. The cidery was founded by Virginia natives and science-minded Nikki West and Jeremy Wimpey. And Nikki improved her cidermaking through courses at the Cider Institute of North America -> a partner of the American Cider Association. Over a burger from 1Tribe Farm, I sampled six ciders through a standard flight. The Helles Dry is a solid representation of a brut cider and on the other side of the spectrum, the Pink Oceans was interesting with a subtle strawberry profile. However, the most impressive cider was easily the Liquid Gang, made from foraged apples and fermented using native yeast. The tannic structure mimics biting into an apple. Could be my favorite cider made in Virginia and is on par with the excellent cider from New York's Aaron Burr Cidery.

Richmond Cider Roundup During CiderCon 2022

CiderCon 2022 provided Richmond cideries a tremendous platform to showcase their ciders during several after-hour events. Augmenting the River City's vibrant craft beer scene are three cideries, Buskey Cider and Blue Bee Cider (located in the popular Scotts Addition neighborhood) and Bryant's Small Batch Cider -- situated just south of the State Capitol.  A few weeks ago I was able to visit Bryant's primary orchard tasting room in Nelson County and gained an appreciation of that operation. However, the first night of the conference was my first visit to both Scotts Addition cideries. 

Buskey Cider

Buskey seemed to be the center of attention at CiderCon hosting tasting events on consecutive nights. They started by pouring cider from almost a dozen other Virginia cideries including Albemarle CiderWorks and Old Town Cider.  This Winchester cidery's dry Albemarle Pippin cider is excellent and its sharp dry finish was very similar to Buskey's dry cider.  Both are very worthy everyday refreshing ciders.  CiderCon also allowed me to meet a few orchard growers who tutored me on the intricacies of the Black Twig apple which led to a more interesting tasting.

On the second night, I participated in a seminar presenting Buskey's barrel program.  This session consisted of a sampling of five barrel-finished ciders, all but one currently bottled. These ciders all started from Nelson County apples which were fermented dry then placed in different barrels they purchased through a broker. One of these was a Gin barrel and this imparts several botanicals into the cider's aroma leaving citrus and some coconut on the finish. The Brandy barrel overwhelmed the cider with too much apple fruit and was the least favorite. The Mezcal barrel imparted an abundant amount of smokiness, but in an enjoyable amount, which elevated this as one of my favorites. The Sherry was also appreciated because of the nuts and dried fig and raisin flavors that the cider absorbed. Finally, we were served their Scotch cider, straight from the holding tank and peat was everywhere.  This was a fascinating tasting both from the ciders and the opportunity to talk to the Buskey personnel and other attending cider makers. 

Blue Bee Cider
After apprenticing at Albemarle CiderWorks, Courtney Mailey headed to the city to open her own cider operation and plant an urban orchard. From that orchard and another in Nelson County, she creates some of the most delicious ciders in the Commonwealth.  Many of these are single varietal ciders that you can sample through a Manchester flight. This penta-flight starts with the Harrison, a colonial-era cider apple from the northeast where the full-body, tannic, and abundant acids match the tasting sheet.  The Hewe's Crab follows and this was the most common fruit variety grown in eighteenth-century Virginia. It is thought to be a cross between the native American crabapple, Malus angustifolia, and a domesticated European apple. The funkiest of the group was the Spitzenburg, discovered in the late 1700s by an early Dutch settler of that name. It was found at the settlement of Esopus, on the Hudson River, in Ulster County, New York.  Lots of sweet and tart flavors but also some funk. The English Dabinett cider apple was the most interesting of these single varietals. The aroma is pure apple, like biting a kid's packaged lunch apples.  However, the flavor is bittersweet and tart. The final cider was the Golden Russet, a cider apple that arose in upstate New York in the 19th century, possibly derived from an English russet variety.  This cider showed a nice balance between tannins and acidity.

On a return trip, I had a glass of their Aragon 1904 which is one of Blue Bee's original ciders. This off-dry cider is made from a blend of modern and heirloom apples and is full of flavor, slightly tart - nice acids.

Bryant's Small Batch Cider
As much as I love Bryants'Brite Good dry brut cider, I used this visit to taste some of their flavored ciders.  For the conference, they made sure they had on tap a Banana Bread cider that tasted as advertised.  Not over the top, but noticeable walnuts and banana. I also went with a Coffee Chai cider for a little caffeine boost. The tea strongly presented itself and adversely overwhelmed the coffee.  I definitely preferred the version I sampled at their Nelson County barn. The Richmond taproom has another difference from the barn. With the paintings and other art, you feel like you are tasting in a Victorian parlor as opposed to a 1900s barn. 

Maryland Mead and Cyser from The Buzz Meadery

The Berlin Commons is a community green space located at 21 Jefferson Street in Berlin and on Friday & Saturday nights The Buzz Meadery pours a selection of meads and ciders from their keg dispensing van.  The meadery was founded by Brett and Meghan Hines, both full-time teachers at Indian River High School. Brett is a long-time home brewer of beer and mead specializing in session products with lower abv.  They produce a range of ciders, meads (honey wine), and cysers (mead and apples) sourced directly from Eastern Shore farmers. They particularly support local farmers who use low or no pesticides in order to keep the honeybee populations healthy.

During a Friday night tour of breweries west of Ocean City we stopped at the Berlin Commons for a pint. I chose the Apple Cyser (6.9% abv) a carbonated session mead using honey from Apex Bee Company (Preston, MD) and apples from East View Farms (Frankford, DE). This is a refreshing mead, full of apple flavors with a dry and effervescent finish. Later that night I opened a bottle of their Apple + Pear (6.9% abv), another carbonated session mead using wildflower honey (Preston, MD) and apples and pears from their community orchard.  This mead is a little sweeter with the pear slightly dominating the apple but the acidity and effervescence provide a pleasant balance to the sweetness. 

And as always, theCompass Craft Beverage Finder will guide you to the Berlin Commons and other Eastern Shore establishments.

A Virginia Wine Month Visit to The Winery at Sunshine Ridge Farm

For Columbus Day we decided to visit a Virginia winery particularly since October is Virginia Wine Month and settled on the recently opened The Winery at Sunshine Ridge Farm. Although, don't let their name detract from the presence of a brewery and cider house onsite. In fact, this Gainesville operation is an adult playground with three types of craft beverages, its plethora of firepits and picnic tables, live music on the weekends, and widespread views of Lake Manassas. Too bad public access is not available for the lake - looks like a wasted fishing opportunity. 

Our visit started with a flight of four wines - all produced using Virginia sourced grapes: 2019 Chardonnay ($33), 2020 Viognier ($34), 2019 Riesling ($33), and 2019 Cabernet Franc ($36). I preferred the chewy Cabernet Franc but was outvoted for a bottle of the very drinkable Viognier.  I didn't object because I also wanted to taste through a flight of beers starting with those brewed at Sunshine Ridge. Some of their beers come from Beltway Brewing, a very respectable contract brewer. My clear favorites from this flight were the Sowing Oats (Spiced Farmhouse Ale, 5.6% ABV, 26 IBU), Double Dog Dare Ya! (Double IPA, 8.0% ABV), and Picnic Porter (Robust Porter, 6.2% ABV, 44 IBU). Not normally an IPA lover, the Double Dog is outstanding - hazy citrus, tropical, earthy, and so smooth.

I have a feeling I will be returning very soon seeing the Scott Kurt is scheduled for several nights starting this weekend to into December.  And as always, theCompass Craft Beverage Finder will guide you there.

BevFluence Cocktail Book Program 2021 - Negroni: More than 30 Classic and Modern Recipes for Italy's Iconic Cocktail

This spring, BevFluence has partnered with Ryland Peters & Small and CICO Books to review several Cocktail books starting with Negroni, More than 30 classic and modern recipes for Italy's iconic cocktail ($12) by David T. Smith and  Keli Rivers. My bar setup was void of each of the three central ingredients (Campari, gin, and vermouth) so I decided to go local as much as possible - obviously excluding the Campari. This Italian liqueur was created by Gaspare Campari in 1860 as a bitter aperitif made from various herbs, fruits, and spices. 

For the gin, I went with the excellent Joseph A. Magnus & Co Vigilant District Dry Gin ($35) that I first sampled at their Washington, D.C. distillery. This is a London-style dry gin that should be a decent alternative to the English gins. For vermouth, I learned that Mt. Defiance Distillery in Loudoun County Virginia produces a Sweet Vermouth ($19, 350ml).  This fortified wine starts at the Mt. Defiance Apple Brandy that is flavored with herbs and spices and blended with barrel-aged brandy, Vidal Blanc wine, local honey, and caramel syrup. 

The perfect place to start is with The Classic, just equal parts of all three ingredients. In this scenario, the bitter orange of the Campari takes center stage with the vermouth providing a slight balance with sweet flavors.  The gin was a little lost with this palate. 

I favored another recipe called Run Free & Naked which puts The Classic ingredients into an ice-filled and salt-rimmed pint glass. Then fill the remaining glass with sparkling hard cider. I choose the Corcoran Vineyards and Cidery PoPo Peach. This was an eye-opener and will be a summer favorite. 

The next recipe came from the Experimental Negroni section and is the Oaxacan which replaces the gin with mezcal in the Classic recipe. I had the Mezcal El Silencio Espadín available and this substitution seemed to elevate the Campari even more while also providing a smokey trail. Good for a change of pace.

Check back as we will up updating this post with more cocktail experiences as we leaf through the book. Cheers. 

Another non-traditional Negroni we enjoyed was the Kingston Negroni which is the Classic above with the gin replaced with rum. We used the Pilar Key West Rum and this combination provides a little smoothness and toastiness.

The Stout & Steadfast piqued our interest - as well as a seminar discussion - so we created this cocktail using equal parts from the Classic recipe - using Aviation American Gin.  The recipe calls for filling the remaining half-pint class with Guiness, but I used the Center of the Universe Donny Coffee Brown Ale. The Campari bitters start off the race, but the coffee and dry malt catch up and lead to a smooth relaxing finish. Actually liked the cocktail more than the beer on its own. 

We were waiting for warmer weather to make the Negroni Float, but couldn't wait. The recipe calls for smaller amounts of the Classic added with ice to a large glass. Then add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and slowly fill with cola or as in our case, Kutztown Sarsaparilla. Top with whipped cream and let the cola and ice cream integrate into the cocktail, then sip with a straw. The Negroni takes a back seat and I love our choice of Sarsaparilla which blends in nicely with the Campari. A worthy dessert. 

A Visit and Conversation with Dry Mill Vineyards' Winemaker Karen Reed

Even though Dry Mill Vineyards & Winery is one of the closest Loudoun County wineries to the Washington Beltway, in the past few years I seemed to have traveled past it while visiting that county's wine and beer trail.  But not last weekend when we targeted Dry Mill specifically because of its proximity to DC. My remembrance was solid wines particularly their Viognier and Chardonnay and on our arrival, we started with the 2017 Virginia Viognier ($29) - as well as cups of wine augmented mulled cider. 

We finished the Viognier in their courtyard patio, braced from the winery winds by side coverings and heat lamps. The wine was as pleasant as the environment, stone fruit dominated the citrus starting with peaches then ending with lifting lemony citrus.  

Next, we turned to their off-dry Mead ($25) - quite flavorful at 1.7% RS. What was lacking was a little lift in the tail, so I blended a bottle at home with the Supreme Core Pounda Gold to see if this livens the finish. This concept is a switch-hitter in the sense that either the hard cider or mead could be the dominant partner, and in fact, each side of the plate worked well. Augmenting the cider with a little mead added body and depth whereas adding cider to the mead did add more effervescence. But my tastes indicated a 50-50 blend - where both profiles contributed equally. 

It was at that point that I learned that winemaker Karen Reed was working in the tasting room, and to my ignorance, was hired a decade ago by Dry Mill after previous engagements at White Hall Vineyards, Clos Pegase Winery in Napa, Hillsborough Vineyards - and with a Masters Degree in Viticulture from the University of Adelaide, Australia.  I duly noted to follow up with Reed concerning her background which led to an email exchange this week learning more about the winery and herself. 

In particular, she is passionate about her Merlot and the fruit sourced from Russ Mountain Vineyard in Bluemont. Reed related how that vineyard specializes in Merlot and it is some of the best in the state, "if you blind taste my Merlots with anything from the right bank of Bordeaux, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference".  Thus Merlot is the star of their cellar with the 2017 Merlot the current - and last release - as they lost the contract that year. 

Ms. Reed is also excited about her 2017 Chambourcin. She relates, "it's not a grape that I was familiar with until moving to Virginia and it's always been a bit of a conundrum to me.  Most wineries try to get a lot of tannin extraction from it, and then put a lot of new oak on the wine.  However, when I tried this technique in previous years, I always felt like I was fighting with the wine -- trying too hard.  And it always ended up having that traditional "Virginia red flavor" which you used to find in a lot of wines from the 1990s.  In 2016, I made the decision to let the wine be what it wanted to be, a food-friendly, fruit-forward, easy-drinking wine.  The result was a wine reminiscent of a Barbara d'Alba... slightly higher acid, easy to drink, goes with every meal, but still sporting some rich fruit characteristics.  I love it.

And a lesson I learned is to reach out with these conversations before the visit so that I could taste these recommended wines on that visit and not have to plan a second outing.  We did return home with the 2017 Barrel Chardonnay ($27) which owner Dean Vanhuss had recommended when he stopped by our table to thank us for visiting.  Spicy butter and vanilla are the dominant notes for this wine with layers of green apples slowly evolving as the wine warms.  And the finish engages quite a while; a nice recommendation. 

Cheers to Karen Reed and Dry Mill -- until our next visit.

Lost Boy Cider - Virginia's First Urban Cidery

This weekend we leveraged a Four Mile Run fishing trip into a visit to Alexandria's Lost Boy Cider. Tristan Wright recently opened Virginia's first urban cidery using apples sourced from Glaize Orchard - a four-generation grower located outside Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley. This is the epicenter for Northern Virginia apple growing with Frederick County hosting its own Apple Trail. Wright also hired David Briun, a respected cider and winemaker, who leverages his experience from the Eden Ice Cider Company and Bellwether Cider & Wine to produce a wide portfolio of ciders - a dozen to be precise.

Many of these ciders are co-fermented with various fruit, peppers, botanicals, spices, and hops. But our focus was on the dry side of the house specifically the Comeback Kid, Gold Digger, Barrel Aged, and Andre the Giant - Petillant Naturel Cider.

The Comeback Kid is made from a blend of table apples -- Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Pink Lady, Stayman, and Fuji -- a blend that remains the same throughout the year. Biun states that they work with David (Glaize Orchard) "to customize our picking schedule, storage, and pressing strategy so we can have a consistent blend throughout the year".   The cider itself is solid - dry, more tart than you would expect from these apples, a creamy texture, and finishing with refreshing acids.  For the Barrel Aged, Biun ages the Comeback Kid for 4 months in used bourbon barrels creating a softer cider where the bourbon shows itself on the tail. Unfortunately, the fresh acidity and tartness dissipate during this process.

The Gold Digger is a blend of Golden Delicious and Rhode Island Greening -- and American heirloom apple variety dating back to the 17th century and most often used for apple pie. But at Lost Boy, this non-pollinating apple has found a suitable mate to produce a dry, mildly tart cider with a full apple core. I think my favorite of the foursome.

Finally, the Andre the Giant is a Pét-Nat (Petillant Naturel) Cider, a sparkling cider, where the cider is bottled before completing its primary fermentation. Carbonation occurs in the bottle as carbon dioxide is produced naturally when the yeast consumes the remaining sugars.  This is a vibrant offering, light, and flavorful.

Lost Boy's tasting room is spacious with room for kids, dogs,  and yoga mats. A food truck was parked outside and a pizza party inside testified that visitors can byof.  And make sure you inspect the tasting bar itself, a physical specimen repurposed from a fallen maple tree.

As for future offerings, a Cyser is on deck and Biun says they are "starting to branch out for some more limited release ciders focusing on trying to capture the essence of different orchards. We have started conversations with Diane Flynt at Foggy Ridge Cider as well as Claire Whelan at Longview Orchard to source orchard/field blends for some projects next harvest". Sounds enticing

And as always theCompass Craft Beverage Finder will guide you to all your cider needs. Cheers.

Demarest Hill Winery & Distillery - The Everything Store for Craft Beverages

Francesco Ciummo is a pioneer - yes they still exist. He learned how to graft vines at 17, moved to Belgium at 20 to work as a coal miner, then emigrated to Venezuela and learned the auto body trade. In 1961, at 26 years old, he came to the United States eventually purchasing a body shop in Bergenfield, NJ. Ciummo retired at 55, and soon afterward purchased 135 acres in Warwick, NY where he planted a vineyard. He opened Demarest Hill Winery in 1998 then started tinkering in other craft beverages such as distilled products in 2006 and hard cider more recently. Not satisfied with a limited portfolio, Ciummo has explored the boundaries of wine, spirits, vinegar, and flavorings currently offering over 90 distinct products for sale - 33 of which are distilled spirits and liquors.

During a Christmas Break visit, we sampled many of these offerings with a keen interest in the unique distilled products. For instance, Ciummo distills a rather tasty Clear Grappa but also sells versions augmented with honey, raisins, or figs. He follows a similar pattern with grape brandy, selling versions aged in Cherry Tree wood and our favorite the Triple Tree Plus Brandy ($22) – aged from maple, oak, apple, cherry and cedar trees from his property. I also enjoyed the Dandelion Brandy ($22) distilled with a dandelion flower mash and serves as a suitable digestif. The Sherry is suggestive of Jerez and the Tropical Liquore - a version of the Dominican drink "Mamajuana" is a blend of rum, red wine, and honey aged in the bottle with tree bark and herbs. And his fruit brandies, Cherry and Peach are sweet - but loaded with flavor.

As for wine, a majority of the products are on the sweeter scale but there are several dry offerings that are pleasant. The estate Dry Aurora - a white hybrid grape variety produced by Albert Seibel - is complex and interesting. And the off-dry Riesling comes across drier as the acids enable a crisp and clean finish. For reds, the Bacchus Noir made from Baco Noir was our favorite followed by the Warwick Black Pearl and Warwick Red Deer composed of De Chaunac and Marechal Foch respectively. For a final, try the Apple Cider and Rum ($14) which is only 2% alcohol but provides a delicious and deep apple flavor.

A Day Trip Along the Shenandoah Spirits Trail

The Shenandoah Spirits Trail consists of 49 breweries, cider houses, distilleries, and wineries within the Shenandoah Valley and located between Harrisonburg and Winchester. These destinations are an easy day trip from the DC Metro area and are worth leveraging when visiting the Valley's Civil War sites, scenic roads, and outdoor activities. And try to stay for the sunsets. Here are a few we visited recently.

Old Hill Cider - Timberville
The is an outgrowth of Showalters Orchard where the Showalter family has been growing apples for over 50 years on a century-old orchard. Cidermaker Shannon Showalter established the first cider house in the Shenandoah Valley by fermenting various heirloom apples such as Pippen, Winesap, and Stayman. These are the blend for the refreshing Yesteryear dry cider. Full a fuller cider, try the Cidermaker's Barrel where the juice is fermented using wild yeast then racked into barrels -- developing texture and depth. And walk out back to sip and enjoy the scenic valley.

Swover Creek Farms and Kitchen - Edinburg
Swover Creek Farms was established just over a decade ago by Lynn and Dave St.Clair, diversifying their 100+-year-old family farm into berries and about 6 years ago 14 hop varieties. In 2014 they opened a small brewery operation using a 3.5 barrel brew system with 2 fermenters and 4 bright tanks. These are located in a renovated barn with a former cow loafing shed used for outdoor covered seating. Inside enjoy house-made pizza, Swover Creek smoked sausages and several styles of beer. Our favorites were the Saison and Lager.

Wolf Gap Vineyard - Edinburg
Willard and Diane Elledge founded Wolf Gap Vineyard and Winery 15 years ago on a 48-acre estate. The views of Wolf Gap and the Great North Mountains from their deck is worth a visit in itself, but an added bonus is the well-crafted wines offered. The 50-50 2017 Viognier-Traminette blend is refreshingly unique while the 2016 Chardonnay is textured and crisp. Nut the dry reds are their strong suit starting with the 2015 Chambourcin Reserve. Smokey and spicy but not jammy. The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve proves that this grape can excel in pockets in the Commonwealth and the 2013 Mariage Reserve (Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc) is delicious.

Reminder: theCompass Craft Beverage Finder will guide you to these destinations.