2019 ‘Bent Mountain’

Witt Orchard, Roanoke County

Traditional Method Sparkling Cider, 750 mL

55 Cases Produced

pH: 3.86 | TA: 5.7 g/L | ABV: 8.3% | TSO2: 0 ppm

All fruit ferments without modification with ambient yeasts. Ciders are unfined and unfiltered.

Artwork:

  • Cyanotype of 2020 blossoms, reflecting the influence of direct sun on this fruit

Fruit/Site:

  • 100% Albemarle Pippin apples, trees aged 40 and 80 years. A non-commercial orchard, fruit received one pre-bloom spring spray and nothing else.

  • Sandy loam of mica and granitic gneiss, 2900’ elevation. Bent Mountain has produced apples of renown since the mid 19th century.

Season:

  • The flash drought in September and October of 2019 stressed the trees into early ripening and fruit drop, so I harvested everything myself off of the orchard floor. The fruit that survived a heavy culling was lush and juicy with surprising phenolic depth.

  • All fruit from this orchard was lost to frost in 2020.

Fermentation/Development:

  • Crushed apples fermented on skins for three days with the cap kept wet by hand. Fruit was then pressed into a used French oak puncheon, where fermentation took 3.5 months to dryness with frequent stirring to re-suspend the yeasts.

  • The cider was in barrel on gross lees for 6 months total, then racked and re-fermented in bottle with its own yeasts and organic sugar. Aged sur latte 12 months, and then riddled and disgorged by hand in late April 2021.

Tasting:

  • Lily, crushed strawberry, sage