Description

We start with apples sourced entirely from historic Hudson Valley orchards and our own reinvigorated family orchard in Esopus, NY. After having sweat the apples for a spell, we press on our handmade rack-and-cloth press. Initial fermentation takes place in glass and stainless steel, and then rests through the winter in our steel clad cider house – the metal house!   We blend in the spring, and start a new tirage using champagne yeast, nutrients and sugar to restart the fermentation process. We bottle immediately and then lay the bottles horizontally for a minimum of six months, allowing the second fermentation to proceed slowly, and imparting an optimal effervescence to each one. After riddling the lees into the neck of the bottle, the precipitate is disgorged and the bottle is topped off with a cider dosage. We then cap, clean and label bottles.   Sure, one can make cider in about four days. But good things take time. From the sustainably grown apples we pick, to the way in which we ferment, to the time we allow it to bottle condition, we work for it … and wait for it. Toil, love and time.