I had the wonderful chance on my way down to Duck North Carolina to stop in Norfolk Virginia to stock up on a vacation's worth of cider, and then some! The first cider I tried on vacation was one by Bold Rock Hard Cider. I'd heard of them before through various cider boards on Pinterest. The company is based in Nellysford, Virginia. The company came into being when John Washburn and Brian Shanks combined location, resources, and expertise to put some Virginia apples to a new cider destiny. They've been working on a locally oriented and environmentally sound company ever since, winning both international and local cider awards with several of their ciders. You can read more about their ciders and tasting room on their website: http://www.boldrock.com/.
I chose Virginia Draft for my first Bold Rock cider experience. Unfortunately, the Bold Rock website does not include any sort of tasting notes or information about apple varieties used in their ciders. The website does tell me that the Virginia Draft is 4.7% ABV and should be eaten either ice cold or over ice.
Appearance: brilliant, warm applesauce
When poured, some foam appearance on the surface of the Virginia Draft, but it calms quickly. The clarity is completely brilliant. The color suggests to me a warm applesauce in a very pleasant way.
Aromas: Fresh apple, pear, cherry
Though this cider doesn't have a very strong smell, I could detect fresh apples, pears, and cherries. A totally fruity smell with no rough edges.
Flavors: appley, low acidity, no tannins
This fruit forward cider offers tons of apple flavor. My husband Alex calls it low impact, but I say the cider is decidedly mellow. It doesn't have particularly strong elements of either tannins of acidity. The finish definitely shifted towards baked apple and cinnamon notes. This really seems like a fall friendly cider.
As for my suggestion for when and how to enjoy this cider, I admit that I'm influenced by my vacation. I had mind without any food accompaniment in a hot tub under the stars. What a fantastic way to drink cider. I highly recommend it. : )
