Cider Review: Bauman’s Cider Mountain Rose and Wheel Line Cider's Mainline

I hope everyone reading this is healthy, doing what they can to stay that way and keeping others healthy too. If you’re stuck at home, working way too many hours at an essential job, unmoored in a land with no time and only pajamas, or attempting to just keep your own livelihood afloat, you are not alone. I want to offer what support I can from a safe distance, so stay tuned for some extra fun cider content and activities coming soon. But for today, two reviews from cideries I’ve never reviewed before!

I want to start Bauman’s Cider. I was lucky enough to receive a review sample in the mail recently. And let me say, getting cider samples has only increased in excitement in these days of staying at home.

Bauman’s Century Farm Cider was founded by Christine Walter who combines her science expertise with her farm familiar upbringing to make the best cider she can. The cidery’s name hearkens back to the homesteading days of the 1890s when the Oregon farm was founded.The orchard is part of a now 5th generation family farm.There are many mentions of the farm’s first cider maker Christine’s great-grandpa Stephen, but the brand speaks clearly about both appreciating tradition and looking forward for the possibilities of progress.

Visit the cidery homepage to learn more. https://www.baumanscider.com/

The cider I want to share first is the small batch Mountain Rose.

Here’s Bauman’s official description.

Mountain Rose apples have a delicate red flesh, that glows the perfect blush hue when fermented. They have lots of acid and aromatics. We fermented just these apples, with a white wine yeast to puckeringly dry, then aged in French Riesling barrels for a month. This blush cider is dry, but with lots of mouth feel from the time in oak. 6.9%aBV.

Appearance: flamingo pink, bubbly and brilliant

This cider’s pink hue reminds me of flamingos. The Mountain Rose is brilliant and shows off some fun bubble action in the glass. (Apologies for the fuzzy picture!)

Aromas: Grape, ripe apple, red currants

The Mountain Rose smells like newly washed graped, red currants, and ripe apples. There’s the barest whisper of volatile acidity, but only enough to perk up the anticipation of tartness.

Sweetness/Dryness: Semi-dry

The Mountain Rose manages to create a lovely and lofty balance as a semi-dry cider. What sweetness is present is that of berries and fruit.

Flavors and drinking experience: high acidity, berries, citrus and zest

It's true that color can change our perception of flavor, but whatever is working on my brain and palate, I can taste berries, citrus and apple in this cider. The Mountain Rose does bring the super high acidity that I expected after its aromas. The acidity plus the light semi-dryness makes for a light bodied and very zippy cider. It’s not without tannins though!

This fruity, berry forward cider just keeps pleasing me with its bubbles, balance, and beauty. We paired this with a sauteed grouper, potato pancakes, and asparagus. The cider was a mouth-watering accompaniment for this light and springy meal. I loved it.

And my next cider is one I got from Press then Press. I’ve been wanting more access to west coast ciders (an ongoing issue for me). I emailed Chris at the company, let him know my general profile preferences, and he created a custom case for me. It was a great experience! 

Learn about all the ciders and your purchase options here: https://pressthenpress.com/

Here’s a video of me unboxing my order: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWmCO89Gltk&fbclid=IwAR2aOjOBTlUzkU7GUaZEgGekeXInEpick6NuaNBousqAs_5DByNEzz3f6vk

My first cider from that box is Wheel Line Cider’s Mainline! This cidery is a family business and orchard in Washington State. I appreciate how much I read about fruit and apple varieties when I peruse the website. Apples make cider, and it matters what apples people use for their blends.

https://www.wheellinecider.com/

Here’s how the cidery describes the Mainline.

This cider features the Harry Masters Jersey apple that has been partially aged in white oak barrels, with partial spontaneous ferment and then blended together creating a unique smell and flavor profile. The aroma has hints of toffee, caramel and vanilla, with a tasty tart, crisp green apple flavor that will leave you pallet craving more!  ABV: 7%.

Once I had the honor of knowing a cat named after the Harry Masters Jersey apple, so I have a particular fondness for seeing that apple in cider.

Appearance: deep saffron color, hazy, some bubbles

This cider reminds me so much of some french and english style ciders based on its appearance. The color is warm and deep like threads of saffron. It’s just a bit hazy with some visible bubbles.

Aromas: fruity, white grapes, pears, mild oxidation

Wow! I am totally impressed with how fruity and juicy this cider smells. The Mainline is just brimming over with notes of pear and white grape. The aromas are very juicy and just a little oxidized. It smells like the tiniest drizzle of hot caramel over a dessert of fresh fruit.

Dryness/sweetness: Semi-dry

This shocked me, because I expected a sweeter cider based on those aromas. While the Mainline isn’t fully dry, it’s close.

Flavors and drinking experience: funk, minerals, acidity, stone fruit

The Mainline cider is much funkier, drier, and higher acid than I expected from those aromas. I was really thinking I’d get a fruit salad in a glass, but this is more like minerals, fusel oils, and farmy funk. This cider will wake you up!

I appreciate intense minerality and acid, so I’m super happy with this surprise. Fans of funky, super tart ciders should take notice. My initial notes for acidity were, “Yowsers, ear curling acid!.” 

The cider isn’t strongly sparkling, I’d describe it as more mildly petillant.

The Mainline does bring some fruit to the drinking experience. My co-taster noticed and remarked upon a note of under ripe nectarines on the finish. Since those are his favorite fruit, consider this high and specific praise. We enjoyed this cider with our last frozen flatbread pizza dressed up with yellow bell pepper and extra Parmesan. It was a strong pairing, but I get the feeling that the Mainline could lighten much heavier foods with ease. I think I’d choose to put it with a baked macaroni next time!

Stay safe folks and break out the good stuff!

Cider Review: Dragon's Head Wild Fermented Cider and Finnriver's Honey Meadow

West Coast ciders don’t get enough love on this blog. It’s not that I don’t feel the love, it’s just that I can’t get my hands on as many west coast ciders easily! Some wonderful companies share their releases with me regularly, but I don’t see many available in stores. Luckily, I took a brief vacation to Seattle with the Tall One last week. Of course, I tasted ciders everywhere I could! Here are my first two reviews from my explorations!  

I saw Dragon's Head Wild Fermented Cider in a fancy grocery store, and it came back with me to the AirBnb post haste. I’ve not gotten to try too many Dragon’s Head ciders, but what I’ve had, I’ve loved. The cidery is run by Wes and Laura Cherry on Vachon Island, off the coast of Washington State. They have a 3000 + tree orchard and a focus on apples and tradition cider making. 

This link will take you to the website where you can read more about Dragon's Head: http://www.dragonsheadcider.com/

Here’s the only previous mention in my blog, in a write up of CiderCon: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/02/cidercon-part-2-including-heritage.html 

Dragon's Head's official description is helpfully full with a few different sections. I’ll quote it in full. 

This is the Dragon’s Head Cider version of a farmhouse cider. Rather than carefully selecting a yeast strain for the fermentation, we allowed the wild yeast present on the skin of the apples to ferment the cider. It’s a bit of a fun gamble, but one we believe is worth taking.

2018 Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition, BRONZE MEDAL 

Tasting Notes 

Appearance – hazy, straw color, some sediment may be presentAroma – pineapple, green tea, apple blossomTaste – lemon and young pineapple flavors are followed by mild spice and lingering grapefruit notesMouthfeel – medium body with mild astringency; lightly effervescent

Appearance: warm straw, brilliant, big bubbles

My glass looks filled with large motionless bubbles. I know this cider will sparkle. The color of the Wild Fermented Cider reminds me of warm straw and the clarity is brilliant. A very good looking cider.

Aromas: lemon, pears, sugar, apples 

Oooh golly. The Wild Fermented cider smells like apples and sugar dusted on a lemon slices. It’s fresh, sweet smelling, fruity and sharp. I love how balanced and enticing it smells. I get notes of citrus, pears, and most of all mellow overripe apples.

Sweetness/dryness: off dry

The Wild Fermented cider is barely off dry. There’s just enough sweetness to expand my ability to perceive the cider’s nuances. 

Flavors and drinking experience: high acid, balanced, bubbly, wine like

This has to be one of the cleanest and most balanced wild ferments I’ve ever tasted. I’m completely impressed. The cider tastes like cool fresh apples with quite high acidity, and plenty of yeast character.  I love that it’s super balanced and controlled. Tasting this cider creates a strong salivary reaction due to both intense sparkle and high acidity. 

The overall experience is very wine like; it reminds me of a very green appley Sauvignon Blanc. I can  definitely taste the apple in this cider, but the fermentation speaks impressively too. It’s delicious in big and small sips.The fruity notes include lots of citrus. The cider doesn't change much over the course of the sip: it hits with the apple and citrus, and stays constant through the finish. What it offers is excellent. The cider’s  mouthfeel is light and zippy. This is remarkably good. 

Finnriver’s Honey Meadow 

Finnriver Farm and Cidery is an organic cidery and winery, farm and event space in Washington State. I love this introduction from the website as a way to understand this cidery’s identity, “While our farm is remote, we're honored to be on the forefront of the Pacific Northwest hard cider revival and to craft ciders that both honor historic hard cider traditions and offer fresh perspectives on the possibilities of the fermented apple. We grow and source organic and seasonal ingredients to celebrate the beauty and bounty of the earth.”

Read more about Finnriver online: https://www.finnriver.com

I have previously reviewed only one cider by Finnriver, the Dry Hopped: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/07/cider-review-roundup-common-cider-co.html

I enjoyed the Lavender Black Currant this past November: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/11/cider-reviews-finnrivers-lavender-black.html

The Honey Meadow's official description comes in a few parts. 

Describing the aromas and flavors of the cider, we can read, “This floral, earthy nectar sips like a fine, fermented spring tonic. Distinct floral notes with wandering hints of greenery. Light and crisp, herbal body with notes of artichoke and earth, and finishing with honeyed out-breath and a cream soda sprig of chamomile.”

I’m grateful to get some insight into the apple, herb, and honey choices, “Fermented on the farm with a select blend of Certified Organic Washington apples, organic Midori Farm burdock root, organic dandelion root, organic Finnriver lemon balm, organic chamomile blossom and Sequim Bee Farm blackberry honey.”

The ABV of this cider is 6.5%.

Appearance: brilliant, bubbly bright gold

This color just shouts spring sunshine. I didn’t see much of that in Seattle, but I know it when I see it. The cider is brilliant and obviously bubbly.

Aromas: honey, ripe apples, white flowers, yeast, vanilla

I am so glad that this cider smells of apples first and that the floral and honey notes do not dominate. The Honey Meadow does smell like all sorts of fruits, flowers, and herbs, including honeysuckle, vanilla, light honey, and Meyer lemons. I also get just a little yeast bread buried deep in the aroma. It smells so very pleasant! 

Sweetness/dryness: sweet

The Honey Meadow is a sweet cider. The character of the sweetness is honeyed, rich, and vanilla tinged.

Flavors and drinking experience: herbed, honeyed, rich, funky

What a trip! The Honey Meadow tastes sweetly of creamed honey, while also being funky, herbal, appley and powdery. The floral notes remind me of daisies, queen anne's lace, and tiny white spring flowers that make the air smell like May. I get strong hints of vanilla frosting, notably that could be connected to the creamy, thick mouthfeel. The honey is fairly strong, it even hints at being like a cyser. 

The cider has medium acidity and medium bubble that fades fast. There are no tannins to speak of.  I appreciate the clean and bready funk, because it adds a needed second dimension, and a note to the finish.  The cider pairs very well with a salty snack. It’s fun, drinkable, friendly and extroverted.

Cider Review: Gowan's Heirloom Cider's 1876 Heirloom

The first cider I got to try on my San Francisco trip was a Gowan's cider at a really neat Indian restaurant in the Mission. I was meeting a friend with my husband at Babu Ji (http://babujisf.com/) after coming in from the pouring rain. While we were drying off and waiting a moment, I asked about cider and was thrilled to hear about a local choice on tap. So, I thought I'd share my impressions of the only Gowan's Heirloom Cider I've had the chance to try: Their 1876 Heirloom. But first a bit about Gowan's Heirloom Ciders.

This business grew out of Gowan Family Orchards. That business is known for wholesale fruit including the rare Sierra Beauty apple for 140 years. There's not as much information about the actual cider elements in comparison to the orchards, but perhaps that will grow with time.

If you like gorgeous photos of apples, please visit their websites. You won't be disappointed. 

http://www.gowansheirloomcider.com/
http://www.gowanorchards.com/

And now, moving to the cider I was so lucky to find. The official description of the 1876 Heirloom reads, 

Our ‘1876’ wine-style cider celebrates the first harvest here with a select blend of fresh heirloom apples, capturing the complex aromatics of late fall orchards: rich earthiness, floral, stone fruit and honey. 

Lightly sparkling, this cider is refreshing, complex and crisp, with a medium finish. Imagine walking through a late fall orchard.

I'm not quite sure what a medium finish entails specifically, but this does give me a few good expectations. Ciders that can be described as earthy are often winners for me, and readers know I'm a huge fan of using heritage dessert fruit while our cider specific orchards in the United States are still so few and so young. Let's see how this tastes.

Appearance: brilliant, few visible bubbles, old gold color

As the picture reveals, albeit dimly, this cider looks totally brilliant. I'd describe the color as old gold. There aren't too many bubbles, so I'm not expecting an intense sparkle. 

Aromas: melon rind, fresh watermelon, wet apples, bakery

Perhaps its the limitations of a pint glass of cider in an Indian restaurant but I had a difficult time honing in on the aromas of this cider. I could detect watermelon rind, wet apples, and bakery, but I feel like there was more I was not accurately perceiving.

Sweetness/dryness: semi-sweet to sweet
I noted in the official description there were few hints to point me to how dry or sweet this cider might be.

Flavors and drinking experience: fig, caramel, baking spice

This cider reminds me of ripe figs, caramel, and baking apples with spices. There's also a note reminiscent of  Johnny Chapman by New Day Craft. (See that review here: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/05/cider-review-new-day-crafts-johnny.html) I think the notes of salted caramel are what reminds me of molasses, but lightly so.

The richness in the mouthfeel comes from the sweetness without any doubt. The cider is only lightly bubbly, as I anticipated. The 1876 offers up medium low acid compared to many similarly heritage fruit ciders from the east coast and a similarly low level of tannins. I has a lingering sweet mouth coat that finishs cleanly and tastily.

This was a great cider for a spicy meal. Spicy foods bring out the best in sweet ciders, if you ask me. I enjoyed this cider and the whole experience mightily, and I hope I get to try more Gowan's ciders in the future.

Cider Review Roundup: Common Cider Co. Hibiscus Saison, Finn River Dry Hopped, Two Towns Bright Cider, and Henney's Dry Cider

When kids come back from school, one always imagines them writing the essay, "What I did on Summer Vacation." Though summer isn't over yet, I only had one big bit of travel in my summer. This three day vacation was spent doing Family Reunion with my husband's very entertaining family on Lake Tahoe. This is how it looked.

But you guys don't want to hear about that! You're here to read about cider, so I'm going to share with you what I drank on summer vacation!
To be more specific, I explored a local beverage place between the airport and the lodge and picked up a few things I'd not seen before. These are ciders I cannot find easily in New York. Some family members were interested in trying some ciders, so we set up an informal tasting. I had no idea how many folks would be interested or I would have gone a lot more crazy in the store. But that simply tells me that people who aren't committed cider folks are still really excited to experiment with new tasty beverages, and that is a very good thing.

Cider #1: Hibiscus Saison

Common Cider Co. http://www.commoncider.com/

Official description: "Hibiscus Saison pours a rosy red color with a bubbly head. The aroma is light & floral with hints of sweet apples and hibiscus."

Aromas: Peach and citrus, dark acidity, strong smell of fresh green wood, a nice note of mineral

Flavors and drinking experience: sweet, acidic, easy drinking, fun. Some folks tasted a bit of funk on the nose initially, but it fades fast. We all found this cider sweet, and the saison yeast is very subtle. Our beer expert at the table (of Latitude 42) said he couldn't taste it. It has very high acid, owing to some degree from hibiscus. A few tasters noted a juicy tea aftertaste; this is Red Zinger, the cider. It had a light mouthfeel with no tannins.

Cider #2: Dry Hopped

Finn River http://www.finnriver.com/

Official description: "Bright cider, made with heirloom and organic dessert apples, blended with the bold citrus tang of organic Cascade hops. Some say it's like sipping a meadow; some say it's like chewing on grass. A hopped adventure. Alcohol content 6.5%. Dry."

Aromas: very hoppy, bits of grapefruit, lychee, green apple a whole hop smell

Flavors and drinking experience: We can definitely taste grass and green tea; the cider is floral and very fresh. I found it off-dry. The hops have some astringent qualities in a pleasant way. This has medium tannins and high acid, high enough to cause significant salivary gland response. In terms of texture, there's just a little bubble; petillant. I did taste some rhubarb notes.

Cider #3: Bright Cider

Two Towns  http://2townsciderhouse.com/

Official Description: "Clean and crisp, The BrightCider is made exclusively with fresh-pressed NW apples. BrightCider, always a bright idea!"

Aromas: A note of sulfites—it blows off. We all found it minerally and bright indeed! The smell reminded most of a freshly-bitten Granny Smith; just a dash of green apple candy though.

Flavors and drinking experience: The Bright cider tastes sweet, with very high acid; the malic acid is very strong. I noticed a pronounced lemonade aftertaste. Alex described a wet mouthfeel. Others found it Somewhat soda-like; gentle carbonation.

My favorite 2 Towns is still their Hop and Stalk which I reviewed back in 2014: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/12/cider-review-2-towns-ciderhouse-hop-and.html

Cider#4: Dry Cider
Henney's http://www.henneys.co.uk/

Official description: "Henneys Dry Cider is our best selling cider. Smooth, light and refreshing. Sweet, appley aroma. Palate has a delicious bittersweet apple character with some spicy bite and a bit of a tannic grip. Very fruity and quite pure, with a nice savoury twist."

Aromas: We noticed all sorts of things. I'll just let the list speak for itself: fresh tobacco, caramel, very ripe apples, kim chi, fruit esters, funk, sun-warmed hay, rawmilk goatcheese, the freshly washed feet of an English milkmaid. Slightly silly, but there were reasons for these observations.

Flavors and drinking experience: Most everyone noticed a strong caramel presence, some barnyard funk, but not distastefully much. One sibling said: Ghetost. The cider was low acid, medium high tannins. I loved that it was darkly semi- sweet. I tasted new bruised apple, but found it so interesting.

All of these ciders went super well with family and sunshine and relaxing, but even better than that, sitting down to do a tasting after a ropes course felt magnificent. Highly recommended.

Cider Review: Wandering Aengus Dry Oaked

 
It has been far too long since I've reviewed anything by Wandering Aengus Ciderworks out of Washington State. The last time I reviewed one of their cider, I took a look at the Bloom cider. You can check out my review here: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2013/01/cider-review-wander-aengus-bloom.html.  Their website appears to be undergoing a certain degree of transition right now, but you can still read about their ciders. http://www.wanderingaengus.com/wordpress/

Tonight I'm reviewing their Dry Oaked Cider. I can provide the official stats and description as offered by Wandering Aengus:

Orchards: Hood River, OR & Lebanon, NH
Dry and spicy
“mild clove bite”
Pairings: Salami or Stinky Cheese
ABV 6.8% (2009) 8.4% (2011)
Available in 16.9oz and draft
1/2 & 1/6 barrel kegs – Limited Run Vintage 2011

It's very neat that they share where they sourced the apples, in this case from Hood River, Oregon and Lebanon, New Hampshire. I wish the description gave a bit more in the way of apple varieties or tasting notes, but this is still a nice amount of information. Let's see how this goes.

Appearance: Brilliant, Gamboge, almost no bubbles

Looking at the Dry Oaked cider, I had to find some webpages that list different shades of orange. This thrills me because I have so often referred to shades of yellow, but this is the first time I've gotten to refer to shades of orange. After delightfully thorough consideration, I'd say the color is Gamboge. That word was a new one to me; it refers to the deep orange/yellow pigment used to dye Buddhist monks' robes. What a wonderful excuse to learn new things.The cider is brilliant and pours with Belgian lace

Aromas: wood, fresh apples, light pear and honey notes playing in the background

What a delightful smell! At first the wood just dominates but after a moment and a few repeated sniffs, I could detect the apples, pears, and honey.

Drinking Experience and Flavors: Dry, tannic, acidic, woody

This dry cider tastes so cleanly farmy, which sounds odd because often farminess and gamey flavors go together with funk. But this remarkably different. The Dry Oaked cider gets it farm notes from the combination of acidity and tannins. So much wood! This enchants me because of how well the balance works. The cider gets its liveliness from the acidity, depth from tannins, and restraint from the dryness. Gosh, I'm impressed. I love love the woodiness. It tastes like almost sucking on a barn beam in a way.

Though the cider has some natural sparkle, it isn't at all distracting or overpowering. The finish lingers smoothly. Overall, this is a remarkably drinkable cider for one with real complexity, dryness, and body.

I recommend cooking with this and drinking it at the same time. My husband used it with some good butter to saute mushrooms. This brings out the farminess and earthiness beautifully. We then used those mushrooms on top of pasta with basil pesto and sun-dried tomatoes (from my father's garden). Yeah. It worked out amazingly well for something fairly improvised.

 If you don't want to cook your own meal while drinking this cider, I don't blame you. Wandering Aengus' Dry Oaked cider serves up enough complexity to deserve its own focus. Perhaps then drink it while someone else is cooking something earthy, rich, and marvelous. Cooking is an excellent spectator sport afterall and this cider can keep anyone entertained.

Franklin County Cider Days 2013: A Few Photos and Highlights

Starting with a maple tree and not with apples? Sacrilege, I know, but I wanted to share the amazing atmosphere and weather that attendees of Franklin County Cider Days enjoyed. It was perfect, and all of the locations I saw were beautiful. I enjoyed the town of Shelburne Falls so very much with its cute local shops and classic rural MA houses and amazing fall foliage. It made a great setting for Franklin County Cider Days.

I'd been looking forward to this weekend full of cider events for a few months, and it did not disappoint. People were friendly, informative, and welcoming. I learned so much about cider and good event planning from this brilliant weekend, and I didn't get to see half of all the amazing events that had been put together. I recommend Franklin County Cider Days to any cider enthusiast. It is a mandatory event for professionals in any aspect of the industry. Next year will be the 20th annual Cider Days weekend, and I hope to see you all there.

 

The home brewers event was my first event of the weekend. People sampled home brewed cider, and discussed it. Judges critiqued and compared the ciders and folks got into the nitty gritty of fermentation science, fruit selection, and all sorts of facets to home brewing great cider. Since I've never made my own cider, I felt like an observer and not a participant, but this was a great window into a thriving and vibrant community that is clearly producing all kinds of interesting cider.

 

This picture is from the amazing apple table. At the marketplace, one vendor set this up and allowed people to taste from dozens and dozens of unusual and heritage types of apples. I must have fallen in love about ten times. This is a must try event for everyone because I know of no other way to try so many rare apples. It was amazing.

 Another fun thing worth mentioning, is the cool companies who represented their work in fun ways. I love this vehicle modification for the Urban Farm Fermentary, and though I didn't get a picture, Citizen Cider made a real impression by having a cadre of their folks all wearing the same cool shirt. This is a great opportunity for brands to build up enthusiasm before the Cider Salon, and it really added to the atmosphere.

The Cider Salon

Attending the Cider Salon has to be a highlight for almost everyone who comes to Franklin County Cider Days. It is one of the largest cider tastings that occurs anywhere with more than  75 cider producers and a handful of intrepid cider importers as well. The event is so popular that it has to be divided into two tasting sessions because the tent won't hold enough people for everyone to taste at once. Even with two sessions, people are crushed a bit. My brave companion and I attempted to work counter clockwise through the room, but didn't make it to all the tables. All the more reason to attend again next year.

I attended the second session and tasted ciders from all parts of the United States and a few from Canada, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom. We got a tasting booklet with information on all of the companies who sent cider which helped guide our tasting choices. There were simply too many ciders there to taste them all. It was a cider lover's dream. I learned so much in that hour and a half and recalibrated my palate tremendously. For anyone who fears cellar blindness (changed expectations of cider because of much familiarity with one brand or style) this is exactly the kind of event to fix that.

The volunteers were crucial to making this work, and they poured with enthusiasm and good humor. Many thanks to them. They were facing a lot of empty glasses in those two sessions.

The Harvest Supper

Right after the Salon, we made our way to the Harvest Supper. Everyone sat at long tables in the Shelburne Buckland Community Center and made friends with our tablemates (or already had enough cider buddies to fill a table). Volunteers served us delicious food. I'll include the official description of the meal and menu for the sake of accuracy.

"The 2013 CiderDays Harvest Supper was held from 7 to 9pm on Saturday, November 2nd, and includes seasonal savory and sweet New England themed cuisine. Chef Paul Correnty celebrates the fall harvest by incorporating as many local ingredients as possible into our annual feast."

The 2013 Menu

On the Table Appetizers
: White bean and garlic dip with rustic bread from El Jardin Bakery
Seared sesame tuna with Real Pickles

Soup: 
Cup of Chunky Harvest Vegetable Soup

Salad
: Late Autumn Greens with Cider Vinaigrette

Entree: 
Roasted Vegetable Lasagne with Rosado Sauce and a side 
of Italian sausage

Dessert: 
Apple Crisp with Bart's ginger ice cream and cider syrup 
from New Salem Orchards and Preserves 

And much cider left over from the Salon was poured and enjoyed. I especially liked the soup and salad, but everything was lovely. The meat eaters at our table spoke highly of the Italian sausage, and I will vouch for everything else. I left well stuffed and well cidered and very satisfied.

Spanish Cider Tasting

Because my schedule had some limitations, I just got to try one event on Sunday, the Spanish Cider Tasting. This was led by James Asbel who has been inporting Spanish ciders for three decades as Ciders of Spain. He did a fantastic job along with two featured tasters and a moderator and of course a selection of 5 Spanish ciders that ranged from the genteel to the wild.

This event was a must attend for me because I feel like the Spanish style of cider that frequently focuses on acidity and funk without pronounced tannins is a weak spot in my range of cider experience. This tasting really contextualized Spanish ciders for me and, better yet, showed everyone who attended a range within the style. Sidras vary. Some are more woody, some have sparkle while others do not. Some are produced with the intention of export, others are not. The event deserves its own entry; I took copious notes. But I'll only make it an entry if it seems like someone besides me would find interesting. In any case, the event was marvelous and so educational.

Sadly, I had to leave after that and drive back home. But Franklin County Cider Days was an amazing experience that I cannot wait to repeat next year!