Virginia Cider Week & Cider Smackdown: Attack of the Crab

Virginia Cider Week started last Friday and runs through November 20th and we attended the kickoff event Cider Smackdown: Attack of the Crab at Albemarle CiderWorks. This event was a blind tasting of eight Virginia ciders composed of crab apples and the entries consisted of either Virginia Hewes, Wickson, or Rub Ted Crabapple.

Hewe’s Crab 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 the domesticated European apple of horticulture. It produces a delicious cinnamon-flavored cider that is both sugary and pungent. Jefferson planted his entire north orchard exclusively with this variety and once wrote that crushing the juicy Hewe's Crab for cider was like "squeezing a wet sponge." Its small, round fruit, which ripens in September in Central Virginia, is dull red and streaked with green. (monticello.org)

Wickson Crab was developed by Albert Etter, an apple enthusiast best known for his work on pink-fleshed and red-fleshed apples. Wickson was the result of crossing two other crab apple varieties. Confusingly Etter refers to them as Spitzenberg crab and Newtown crab in his patent papers, but it is not thought they are related to the mainstream apples of the same names but were crabs developed by Etter himself...Like most crab apples Wickson is very small and is also a hardy and problem-free tree. However, that is where the resemblance to other crab apples ends. Wickson is unusually sweet, but at the same time has a strong acid component. The result is an apple that has a very strong flavor, making it an excellent component for cider blends. (orangepippin.com)

Ruby Red is a chance seedling that actually originates from the property. The tree was found behind an old cabin at the base of Priest Mountain by John Saunders and after noting the apples' intense flavor and colored flesh, they chose to propagate the apple for commercial purposes. (Troddenvale at Oakley Farm) 

The Cider Smackdown was a blind tasting where attendees voted on their two favorites or a single favorite getting both votes. Each of the ciders was completely unique even those composed of the same apple varieties, as cellar techniques varied among the cideries. The Albemarle CiderWorks Wickson Crab received the most votes followed by a three-way tie of the Sage Bird Cider Virginia Hewes Crab,  Halcyon Days Cider Occam's Razor, and Big Fish Cider Virginia Hewes Crab.  I had recognized the Sage Bird Hewes Crab from opening a bottle a few weeks previously when studying for the CCP. Love the fleshy tart and bittersweet notes. My other vote went to the Potter's Craft Cider Wickson Crab (which finished in a three-way tie with the Lost Boy Cider Cellar Series: Hewes and Courthouse Creek Cider Crabtree Falls.  The Potter's Wickson Crab was aged in French oak wine barrels and was able to retain tartness and acidity while providing red currants on the nose and a full body palate.  The Troddenvale Grower Series, Silver Creek Orchards - 2021 rounded out the entries and this was my first taste of a Ruby Red Crabapple cider. There was an interesting farmhouse hoppy flavor combined with creamy lees and a bittersharp finish.

We came home with a bottle each of the Albemarle CiderWorks Wickson Crab and Halcyon Days Occam's Razor but hope to revisit all of these ciders during the BevFluence® New Perspectives on Cider, Perry, and Brandy campaign. All ciders are welcome for the campaign. Cheers. 

CiderCon 2022 Sessions - Designed for Professionals, Beneficial for Consumers

Although CiderCon 2022 was a conference devoted primarily to cider professionals and members of the American Cider Association, there were plenty of seminars that benefited a layperson like me.  I attended four of these seminars that were at times very complimentary. In the future, the organizers may want to schedule the seminars on a goal-based path so that each builds upon previous sessions. 

400 Years of American Alcohol: Cider, History, Cocktails and More
This session was hosted by mixologist Tiffanie Barriere and over two cocktails using Potter's Craft Cider, she highlighted the history of cider - particularly through the eyes of Black historical figures. These figures included James Madison Ruffin -- an emancipated slave who managed many agricultural projects before and after the Civil War, including the planting and maintenance of Appomattox Plantation’s apple orchards and its cider fruit.  She told the story of Antoine Amedee Peychaud, who "came to New Orleans from the island of San Domingo, the former French colony that is now Haiti. By 1832 he owned an apothecary in the French Quarter where he made his famous bitters ... which was the essential ingredient in the official Sazerac cocktail. Among many bartender guides, Barriere introduced us to Tom Bullock, the famed bartender at the St. Louis Country Club and author of the 1917 bestseller The Ideal Bartender.  According to George Herbert Walker, a club member and both the grandfather and great-grandfather of a chief executive, "I doubt if he has erred in even one of his concoctions."  

Introductory Palate Training
This session was hosted by Darlene Hayes who also oversees the American Cider Association's Certified Cider Professional program. This was a foundational seminar on participants can familiarize themselves and train their palates to individual structural elements within cider.  We sampled a control cider in terms of that cider with different levels of sugar, acids, and tannins.  Worth repeating often. 

A Cider Among the Faults
Nicole Leibon hosted this session on determining which cider was the innocent control cider and which were fatally flawed. The panelists discussed several faults such as Volatile Acidity from Acetic acid (vinegar) and emphasis on Ethyl acetate (nail polish), Diacetyl (overly buttered), and Acetaldehyde (stale bread). 

Top of the Mitten: High Latitude Ciders from Northern Michigan 
Another session hosted by Nicole Leibon and where we finally started tasting retail ciders by exploring Michigan's 45th parallel.  Through two ciders each from Tandem Ciders, Left Foot Charley, and Presque Isle Farm. The beauty of this session is that these producers source the same apple varieties from the same orchards and use different fermenting methods to produce completely different ciders. Some are produced using controlled fermentation whereas others by wild ferments with some creamy and round and others funky and chewy.

Wild, Clean & Free: Harnessing the Beauty of Wild-Fermenting, Without the Flaws
This session hosted by Christine Walter of Bauman's Cider would build upon the previous by continuing the tasting of wild-fermented sparkling cider and Pet-nats.  We started with the delicious Kossah Wild Fermented from Raw Cider, followed by the 2017 Roxbury Russet Pet-nat from Artifact Cider, and finishing with the Sponti 2020 from Sundstrom Cider.  This last is fantastic, a wild fermented cider, aged on lees, and bottled unfiltered. Sparkling apple funk. 

Cider Week Virginia, Tasting Through the Commonwealth's Dozen Cideries

As my friend Dezel likes to remind me, John Adams drank a tankard of cider every morning as the cider industry was a major feature of the colonial landscape. And in Virginia other presidents like Washington and Jefferson produced cider on their plantations with Jefferson known for his champagne-like cider produced using Virginia Hewe’s Crab. Cider was big business. Obviously the industry slowly dwindled to outright cessation during Prohibition; but in recent times cider has begun to rebound. It is the fastest growing segment of the alcohol industry. There have been many catalysts for this resurrection nationwide, but in Virginia I believe the primary spark was ignited by Diane Flynt and Foggy Ridge Cider. She introduced the concept of Virginia cider to many of us bloggers and was instrumental in creating Cider Week Virginia in order to showcase the rising industry. The first Virginia cidery procured their license in 2004 and today there are 18 cider producers in the Commonwealth with a dozen currently operating. The largest winery in the state is a cidery and Virginia cider is distributed from New York to New Orleans and west to California. And here's what to expect if you purchase or visit a Virginia cidery (theCompass can assist in that regard).



Winchester Ciderworks, Winchester
Located in prime apple country in northeast Virginia, this operation is based out of co-owner Diane Kearns' Fruit Hill Orchard and specializes in English style ciders from cider maker\co-owner Stephen Schuurman's native country.  Their canned Malice is representative of an East English cider and is unfiltered, juicy, and acidic. Nicely done. The cider in the Wicked Wiles brand is based off a West English recipe which is then aged in either used Rye or Bourbon barrels. Malo-lactic fermentation softens the acids which allow the cider to blend more easily with the spirit flavors. The spirits still shine through so expect a much richer cider.

Wild Hare Cider, Bluemont
Located in western Loudoun County this is a new operation where the apples are harvested from the owner's orchard in the Shenandoah Valley. Currently they produce three ciders, the Hatch (a traditional dry cider), Windrush (cider aged in oak and chestnut staves), and Hopscotch (a dry hopped cider).

Potter's Craft Cider, Free Union
Located west of Charlottesville this is the only cider house not open to the public, although look for their 1965 Airstream Trailer mobile tasting room. This cider house specializes in American farmhouse cider and was founded by college friends Tim Edmond and Dan Potter. And these guys like to experiment. Besides the everyday Farmhouse Dry, they produce a Hop Cider (Citra and Amarillo), Oak Barrel Reserve (aged in used Laird & Company's Apple Brandy Barrels), a Grapefruit Hibiscus cider, and a Raspberries & Brett lambic styled cider. These were all unique and delicious; the latter three cocktails on their own.



Old Hill Cider, Timberville
Located near Harrisonburg, Old Hill is based out of Showalter's Orchard in the Shenandoah Valley. They produce a range of styles from dry to off-dry to ice-styled. These are Yesteryear (dry), Heritage (dry), Cidermaker's Barrel (wild yeast and barrel fermented), Betwixt (off-dry), and Season's Finish (ice-styled). The Cidermaker's Barrel was fabulous, both smokey and vanilla - but clear apple flavor and acidity. Their dry offerings are also solid and who can resist a nice dessert cider.

Mt. Defiance Cidery, Middleburg
Located in an old service station on the west side of town, this facility produces both ciders and spirits.  They specialize in very dry Virginia Farmhouse style ciders, and I mean dry. The tart apple flavors, tannins, and acids dominate. Their General's Reserve Barrel Aged is cider aged in used Wild Turkey bourbon barrels. And they offer a few infused ciders: Honey Hard Cider, Ginger Hard Cider, and Blueberry Hard Cider.  I've tasted the Ginger, it's not over the top in spices so I would expect the other two to be subtle as well.




Foggy Ridge Cider, Dugspur
Located in southwest Virginia off the Blue Ridge Parkway, ciders from Foggy Ridge are abundantly available despite their isolated geography.  The Serious Cider is a take on English ciders using mostly English apples. On the other hand, First Fruit portrays an American style and Stayman Winesap perhaps a more Virginia style.  This cider carries a heavy dose of apple flavors, tannins, and acids. Foggy Ridge also creates two Port styled ciders fortified with Apple Brandy from Laird & Company. These are lovely ciders.


Cobbler Mountain Cellars, Delaplane
Located off Route 66, this operation produces both ciders and wine with your choice of a wine bar or cider pub when you visit. Many of their ciders are flavored ciders like the Pumpkin Spice, Kicken' Cinnamon, Maple Stout, and Ginger Peach and made with traditional consumption apples like Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Fuji. Their Traditional Jeffersonian is a very nice dry cider and with a little more sweetness, the Original Honey blends acids and sweet apple flavors.



Corcoran Vineyards & Cider, Waterford
Located near Loudoun County, the Corcorans added cider to their repertoire last year. I visited a couple weeks back and tasted through several of their ciders. Their off-dry Sinful was a big hit.

Castle Hill Cider, Keswick
Located east of Charlottesville on a large historic estate, Castle Hill hosts a one of kind cider, the Levity, fermented and aged in kvevri buried in the ground. This technique is based on an 8,000 year old process originating in what is today the Republic of Georgia to produce wine. Castle Hill incorporated the approach to produce a fantastic cider. Their Terrestrial dry cider is also a clean fresh cider.

Bold Rock Cidery, Nellysford
Located in beautiful Nelson County near Devils Backbone Brewing Company this is the largest winery in Virginia. They also have a satellite tasting facility on top of Carter's Mountain in Charlottesville which I visited this summer. Their ciders are sweeter than most in order to be attractive to the broadest audience and you have probably seen their Virginia Apple, Virginia Draft, and Bold Rock Pear in stores. Less available is the Bold Rock IPA (I believe the Virginia Apple recipe dry hopped) and the Vintage Dry.


Blue Bee Cider, Richmond
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. Start with the Aragon 1904 - a cider reaping with tart flavors and acids. I never heard of cider referred to as a blush or rose, but that's how she describes her Fanfare, an off dry cider infused with wild mulberries. Loads of plum flavors in this cider. Blue Bee also offers a hopped cider, the Hopsap Shandy with the Citra hops giving a shandy-ish lemon profile.


Albemarle CiderWorks, North Garden
Located south of Charlottesville this operation produces a dozen ciders, mostly single varietals. Whereas my ciders are blends, the single varietal ciders allow you to appreciate the individual variety such as Albermarle Pippen, Goldrush, Black Twig, Arkansas Black, and Winesap. Most of these apples are historically significant and have clear differences in flavor profiles. For the blends, the Red Hill and Jupiter's Legacy have traditionally been my favorites.

Cider 101 - The Newtown (Albemarle) Pippin

Since it's currently Cider Week Virginia, I felt it appropriate to discuss the most famous apple variety from the Commonwealth of Virginia - The Albemarle Pippin. This is a versatile apple, suitable for eating, cooking, juicing, and hard cider.  The apple's official name is the Newtown Pippin and originated in Long Island from a chance seedling (known as a pippin) sometime in the early 1700s. Col. Thomas Walker of Castle Hill brought the apple to the Piedmont area after serving with Gen. George Washington during the Revolutionary War.  It quickly became extremely popular and was grown by Washington and Thomas Jefferson. It became an international sensation in 1838, when "Andrew Stevenson, the American minister to Great Britain, presented Queen Victoria with a gift basket of the apples from his wife's Albemarle County orchard. In response, the British Parliament lifted import duties on the variety...(wiki)".

Over time the Albemarle Pippin lost it's appeal; maybe because export markets became more difficult to penetrate or crops dwindled since the apple it is not easy to grow and requires a warm summer and autumn.  Plus the apple requires a couple months of storage after harvest in order for it to develop it's unique and complex tart-sweet flavor. This situation is definitely not suitable for distribution in large chains who now prefer the Delicious varieties. In recent times it has only been available in roadside markets, local orchards, or interestingly, from California-based Martinelli's in their sparkling cider. Which leads us to hard cider - where the Albemarle Pippin is favored in both single varietal, sparkling, and blended ciders.


The Albemarle Pippin returned to Col. Walker's Castle Hill estate through Castle Hill Cider where the apple is used in several ciders. Our favorite is the sparkling single varietal Levity - where the apple juice is fermented and aged in clay kvevri containers buried in the ground. The pippen is also blended with other varieties in their Celestial and Terrestrial hard ciders.

The first modern Virginia cidery, Foggy Ridge Cider, uses the Albemarle Pippin in several new and interesting cider products. These include the sparkling Foggy Ridge Handmade, Pippin Gold (a unique blend of 100% Newtown Pippin hard cider and apple brandy from Laird and Company), and the Pippin Black which combines hard cider from Newtown Pippin and Arkansas Black apples with Virginia apple brandy.

Other Virginia cideries have joined in the fun. Albemarle CiderWorks produces a couple ciders using the apple - the 100% Royal Pippin and Ragged Mountain. Potter's Craft Cider's flagship cider is a blend of Virginia Winesap and Albemarle Pippin. The latter is also a blend in the Old Hill Cider Yesteryear. And finally, keep in eye out for Blue Bee Cider where the cider master, Courtney Mailey was an apprentice at Albemarle CiderWorks and will be using the Albemarle Pippin when her ciders are available in 2013.

Virginia is not the only region to utilize the Newton Pippin; it can also be found at West County Winery & Ciders in Colrain Massachesetts; the large scale production Original Sin Hard Cider; and even in Canada by Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse in British Columbia.

So head on out and grab yourself a Newton or Albemarle Pippin hard cider. Cheers.

VirginiaWineTV Winemaker Series: Castle Hill Cider & Kvevri: