It’s awards season in the cider world! At the end of this week’s review, I’ll link to the results for the Great American International Cider Competition (GA Cider), the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition (GLINTCAP), and the Cidercraft Awards. I was lucky enough to judge for the GA Cider Competition, which is part of the Raise a Glass Foundation. And I’ve enjoyed judging for GLINTCAP many times, and I hope to make it up to Michigan for next year’s competition. But since I was home this weekend, I was able to try a lovely cider from the west coast. It was a nice balm for the GLINTCAP FOMO. Here’s my review of Runcible Cider's Idyll Acres.
This is my first ever review of a Runcible Cider, so here’s a bit about Runcible Cider from the about page of the website.
Runcible Cider is our family orchard and cidery on the rocky prairie above beautiful, tiny Mosier, Oregon. We grow over 1000 traditional cider apple trees, and we ferment these apples as well as heirloom apples grown on neighboring orchards in the Columbia River Gorge.
I got this cider as part of the Northwest Cider Club. Here’s a link if you’d like to see what the club is up to these days: https://nwciderclub.com/
I love that Runcible Cider’s website highlights some of the cider apples grown there for the ciders. Here’s the list they share. How many of the varieties do you know?
Bulmer's Norman
Campfield
Dabinett
Kingston Black
Nehou
Porter's Perfection
Roxbury Russet
Wickson Crab
Yarlington Mill
Chisel Jersey
Bedan
Harrison
Golden Russet
Ashmead's Kernel
Herefordshire Redstreak
Bramley's Seedling
These are some amazing apple varieties. Five of my favorites appear, so my hopes for this cider are high! Here’s how the Runcible Cider's website describes the Idyll Acres.
Idyll Acres -- Apple Contemplation Series
7.6% ABV
Bittersweet and bittersharp cider apples have the perfect building blocks for a structured, balanced cider. This blend of French and English cider apples come from one orchard in Oregon, Idyll Acres, where we taste and blend on the fly right at harvest. This Series celebrates the potential of cider made exclusively from cider apples, aged over a year and a half. Our goal is to put it on your go-to list for bubblies!
Lightly aged in Bourbon barrels, apple and citrus peel, spicy touch of oak. Dry.
Appearance: brilliant, scattered bubbles, warm straw
The Idyll Acres looks very traditional in the glass with a gorgeous brilliance and just a few visible bubbles. The color reminds me of sunlit hay, hence warm straw.
Aromas: overripe apples, peach, barrel, icy apple slush
What inviting barrel-aged characteristics! The Idyll Acres wafts vanilla and toast along with mellow overripe apples. These are just the first layer, secondarily I scent icy apples slush, along with notes of peach, melon, and stone dust.
Dryness/sweetness: Dry
As promised, this is a dry cider. I love a dry barrel aged cider because it's possible to have sweet associated flavors and scents without the physical taste of sweetness, and that’s a wonderfully delicate balance. Idyll Acres achieves it beautifully!
Flavors and drinking experience: tannic, muted fruits, vanilla, full bodied
My first impression is that this cider is tannic, chalky and woody. The barrel characteristics plus the heirloom cider fruit combine to enhance some astringence pleasantly. I get lots of vanilla in the midpalate and in the finish: vanilla everywhere really. Idyll Acres is fruity in a muted way; overripe apple notes predominate with secondary stone fruits.
I love that this cider is both dry and full bodied. The bubble intensity comes across as pleasantly supportive of the overall drinking experience. My co-taster and I enjoyed this cider with a simple spring supper of blacked salmon, baby rainbow potatoes and green beans. The complexity of the cider certainly got the take center stage and deserved it!
Now for the competition results! I encourage you to visit each of these sites to find out who is winning big in the northeast, midwest, and out west. And when you get a chance to taste any of these winners, take it!
Great American Cider Competition medals: https://cider.raiseaglassfoundation.com/
GLINTCAP: Best in Class and Major Awards: https://glintcap.org/
6th Annual Cidercraft Award Winners: https://cidercraftmag.com/announcing-the-sixth-annual-cidercraft-awards-winners/