21 PILOT MOUNTAIN

Montgomery County

Ancestral Method Cider

252 Bottles

pH: 3.80 | ABV: 7.38% | TA: 6.06 g/L

TSO2: 0 ppm | RS: 5.4 g/L

All fruit ferments without modification. All cider and wine is unfined and unfiltered.

Fruit/Site:

  • A field blend of young heirloom apples. Channery loam of broken down limestone, shale, and sandstone, 2400-2600’ elevation.

  • Grower Craig Winslow practices organic

    management and is experimenting with a no copper spray program. The 2021 harvest showcases a particular concentration of Black and Myers Royal Limbertwig apples.

Season:

  • 2021 was a good Virginia fruit year. Minimal frost scares set a good crop, and a warm growing season without severe drought afforded high but balanced ripeness.

Fermentation/Development:

  • Apples rested in Craig’s shed to further concentrate for three to four weeks after harvest.

  • Apples soaked one to three days on their skins before being pressed into glass demijohns. Fermentation was steady but slow which, together with the earthy fruit quality, led us to treat this cider like the Normans: we racked multiple times to finish the cider in bottle with some target residual sugar.

  • Bottles aged on lees for 10 months before being riddled and disgorged by hand. No SO2 additions were made.

Tasting:

  • Cherry cola, dried apple, sassafras

Artwork:

  • An oil pastel approximation of the site’s limestone subsoil.