I had the opportunity to partner with Seminary Hill Cider last week and visit the Callicoon, New York cidery. They hosted the tall one and me for two nights at The Boarding House, shared a beautiful pairing meal (with vegetarian options), and showed us a complete behind-the-scenes tour of the growing orchard, production facility, and tasting room. And it wasn’t going to be the full experience without tasting a few more of the ciders. Luckily, we had far more sunshine than we expected and really got to see the Catskills at their autumnal finest. If you're curious, check out my Instagram to see the visual storytelling.
For full disclosure, I was hosted beautifully and treated to a wonderful time by Stuart, Chef Jack and the kind folks at Seminary Hill in exchange for some social media coverage of the experience. Nothing about the blog was part of the arrangement. I’m choosing to share a few notes on a select few of the ciders we tasted, because they were most certainly the cider highlight of my week. For this roundup, I choose to include five ciders that left big impressions. Other ciders might appear later in individual reviews, but here’s a fun smattering of what can be found at the Seminar Hill Cidery Tasting Room.
First, here’s the website that includes info on the ciders, Restaurant, Boarding House and Tasting room: https://www.seminaryhill.co/
For each of these, I’ll include the official description and a quick summayr of what the Tall one and I thought.
2021 Beechwoods
Alcohol 7.7% - pH 3.86 - Titratable Acidity (TA) 3.5 g/L g/L - Bottling Date 7/21/22
Still, Dry, Unfiltered
A relatively low-acid, soft, round, tannic cider. Perhaps the dry cider equivalent of comfort food.
Bronze and lightly cloudy.
Nose: Apricot, Jasmine
Palate: velvety with mild acid, apricot, peach, and Minneola. Finish: Medium bitterness and generous astringency.
Blend:Chisel Jersey 44%, Dabinett 35%, Wickson17%, Porter's Perfection 4%
Bronze Medal GLINTCAP
To us, the Beechwoods smelled immediately like ripe apples, golden raisins, and when we tasted the primary impression was one of deep soft ripeness. This cider needs to be still, all the better for it to express the smooth worn wood, softened leather, with good tannic bitterness. I appreciated the dried apricot notes along with papery tannins.
Nicksen
Alcohol 7% - Titratable Acidity (TA) 5.23 g/L - Bottling Date 12/6/22
Blend: Dabinett 37%, Harry master’s Jersey 29%, Baldwin 13%, Wickson 5%, Puget Spice 5%, Zaubergau Reinette 4%, GoldRush 4%, Yarlington Mill 3%.
RS 1.5% TA 5.2 g/L
Brilliant Gold Petillant
Nose: Fresh. Apple, spice, deeply floral, toffee, mineral water
Palate: Sweet fresh apple and spice hit you first. Then the spice becomes more herbal and woodsy (is there a hint of wintergreen?) and the astringency kicks in. Full of flavor, but moderate on acid. Very easy drinking.
This cider makes me think of dust in the sunlight from the first sniff through tasting. Alex found it redolent of dried leaves and dark chocolate; I don’t disagree. The cider feels sweet, perhaps even a bit sweeter than its residual sugar because the acid isn’t angular and powerful. The cider tastes dark rather than bright, with a fruity red bell pepper finish.
2020 Semi-Sweet Cackling Hen
Alcohol 7% - Titratable Acidity (TA) 6.3 g/L g/L - Bottling Date 10.5.21
A lightly carbonated semi-sweet cider. A layered experience with lots of fruit. Concord grape, cherry, wood resin.
Residual Sugar 1.4%
Blend: Yarlington Mill 32%, Ellis Bitter 29%, Northern Spy 19%, Tremlett’s Bitter 12%, Newtown Pippin 6%, Chisel Jersey 2%
Zing! This cider rings like a struck cymbal. Though it’s still got some sweetness, the impression is more that of an austere acid bomb. The cider is sophisticated and restrained with notes of lemon and Bing Cherry. We noticed the official descriptions use of the word resin; that captures something important.
Tom’s Beard
Alcohol 7.5% - Titratable Acidity (TA) 8.4 g/L - Bottling Date 1/6/23
A Semi-Dry New World cider with tropical fruit notes and bright acidity. Great with food but also wonderful on its own.
Silver Medal GLINTCAP
Blend: Golden Russet 62%, Newtown Pippin 20%, Wickson 13%, Northern Spy 5%
Nose: Citrus, passion fruit, mango
Palate: Bright acidity, citrus, passion fruit, citrus pith.
RS 1.6% Malic acid 8.4g/L
For folks who want a bit of funk in their cider, start here! It has a smoky phenolic smell but the flavors are dazzlingly intense with tropical fruit. Yes that acid makes it very much a New World/East Coast cider. It’s very juicy and apple-y with a golden ribbon of pineapple as well. I imagine this one's a crowd pleaser. It’s sweet, big, rich, and thick.
Spy Who Came in From the Cold
I don’t have all of the information on this one, but this is a lightly petillant dessert cider.
I was immediately impressed by it’s delightful high acid. This one oozes golden raisins but is sharped up with a strong flavor of Crab apples. What a wonderful treat to find a petillant dessert cider that’s not too thick in mouthfeel. The overall impression is a sweet cider that’s blooming and exciting but not too boozy. Secondarily I get notes of red currant, shortbread, and the tiniest hint of funk. Single varietal Northern Spy.
I think I’d like to go back to Seminary Hill on my own for a self-directed writer’s retreat, maybe to catch the beauty of another season in this gorgeous spot. It's quiet and peaceful. The farm and landscape certainly offer inspiration aplenty; I kept thinking of Grimm’s fairy tales when I peeked across the well- cared-for-orchards into the forest beyond.
