Cider Review: South Hill Cider's Sunlight Transformed

As we get closer and closer to Thanksgiving, I want to mention how grateful I am for my friends. I’m grateful for so many things, but friends make every part of life better. Without them, I certainly couldn’t run this blog, but there are so many things that wouldn’t be the same without the shared knowledge, experience, and support of good friends. And dear friends saved this very special cider to share with me.

South Hill Cider has to be one of my local favorites. Founder Steve Selin helps to anchor the Finger Lakes cider scene with a beautiful lineup of ciders and a full calendar of events that keep the cidery hopping. If you’re curious about South Hill Cider and don’t live locally, South Hill has a cider club! 

Here’s how South Hill introduces the cidery’s home orchard.

LOCATED ON A BUCOLIC HILLTOP, OUR ORCHARD IS PART OF A HARMONIOUS ECOSYSTEM THAT RELIES ON DIVERSITY AND FERTILITY AS ITS FOUNDATION.

Our home orchard started out as a collaboration with an adjoining landowner who permitted us to plow his fallow fields and to plant it to apple trees. This land, being only 4 miles from downtown Ithaca, is under intense development pressure. So, in an effort to protect it from subdivision and development in perpetuity, we successfully have it protected by a conservation easement. We have never applied synthetic chemicals to the farm and use only organic certified inputs.

Here’s the rundown of all of my earlier reviews for South Hill Ciders.  

Packbasket 15’: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2021/01/cider-review-south-hill-ciders.html

South Hill Cider’s Tasting Room: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/09/south-hill-ciders-tasting-room-and.html

Prelude #3: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/12/cider-review-south-hill-ciders-prelude.html

Prelude #7: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/07/cider-review-aeppeltreow-scarlett-rosey.html

Bluegrass Russet: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2019/04/cider-review-sea-ciders-ruby-rose-and.html

Finger Lakes Cider pairing dinner: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/09/finger-lakes-cider-week-and-birthday.html

My top cider of 2016, the Stone Fence Farm: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/08/cider-review-south-hill-ciders-stone.html

2014 Packbasket: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/04/cider-review-south-hill-ciders-2014.html

And my first review for them was the hyper-limited Hypothesis: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/05/cider-review-south-hill-ciders.html

I recommend visiting the South Hill cider website to learn all about the cidery, the ciders, and fun upcoming events: https://www.southhillcider.com/

Today’s review is the super-limited club selection: Sunlight Transformed. One of my dear friends is a member of South Hill’s club, and she held it back for a few weeks until we could get together to enjoy a special cider with snacks.

Here’s the description, 

      Sunlight Transformed

      ABV 7.8%

      This co-ferment is a blend of Dabinett apples and Cab Franc grape skins. The grape skins were from        Bloomer Creek in Hector and the apples from Bob Norris in Wolcott. After the grapes were pressed        we added them to some fresh pressed Dabinett juice. The result is a rich and textured pet-nat with a        lot of natural pectin. The artwork is by Erika Medina, a neighbor who shares a fascination of fruit,           cycles, and nature. Tasting notes: clove, nutmeg, watermelon, rich, full-bodied, earthy, sweet                  tobacco, cola, negroni

And for a little bit of background, I want to link to a definition of petillant naturel: https://www.foodandwine.com/wine/what-exactly-is-a-pet-nat

There aren’t that many Petillant Naturel ciders for sale, relative to the size of the cider market, which makes finding each one extra exciting! Let’s see how this wild and bubbly cider tastes.

Appearance: cloudy, mulberry, bubbles

This cider looks unlike any other I’ve seen. It’s extremely cloudy and a deep mulberry color. There are just a few visible bubbles at the rim of the glass. There could be more bubbles deep in the glass, but the cider is so dark and opaque it’s hard to tell.

Aromas: malt, cinnamon, grape, baking spice, VA

The wildness of this cider is the first impression it gives. Sunlight Transformed flowers with just a little bit of volatile acidity. Other prominent notes include malt, overripe apples, cinnamon, grape, and baking spices. It’s funky and not necessarily in a familiar way. The cider doesn’t smell just like a spanish-style funky cider or a UK funky cider. Sunlight Transformed smells fresh, fruity, and tangy.

Sweetness/dryness: Dry

This cider has almost more flavors than can be counted or identified, but none of them come from perceivable sweetness. It's difficult to know how much sugar is chemically present because the acidity and bitterness complicate tasting any sweetness.

Flavors and drinking experience: bitter, rich, fruity, funky, tannic

Sunlight Transformed cast a spell over everyone gathered at our table. We loved its bitterness, richness, and complexity. This cider is fascinating! Waves of fruit and velvety tannins and high acidity just wash over the palate. It brings spices, full body, and complexity. The funkiness that I sensed in the cider’s aromas are mellow in its flavors. There are so many flavors!

Sunlight Transformed is off the charts good! I think it's the combination of intense apple and grape fruitiness with bracing bitterness. 

Very Perry May: 2 Towns Ciderhouse's Pearadise and Wildcraft Cider Works Hard Cider

Welcome to the last week of this year’s Very Perry May. I hope this continued exploration of perry, pear cider, and pear blends has been as fun to read as it has been to taste. I have one last pear blend and a cider to share this week, both of which come from Oregon. Also, I want to point folks once again to the GLINTCAP page to learn the full medal results of this year’s competition. 

Let’s start with the Pearadise by 2 Towns Ciderhouse out of Oregon.

I’ve written about a fair number of 2 Towns ciders and shared some background in these prior entries. Just to give a quick bit of background. 2 Towns Ciderhouse is based in Corvallis Oregon since 2010. Now they have a tap room and two production facilities. It is Oregon’s largest craft cider outfit. They make several differnt lines of ciders including seasonals, limited releases, collaborations, their flagship ciders and a line called traditions.

Some of my previous 2 Towns Ciderhouse reviews include the following:

Most recently the Pineapple: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2018/02/cider-review-portland-cider-company.html

The Hop and Stalk: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2014/12/cider-review-2-towns-ciderhouse-hop-and.html

The Cidre Bouche: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/11/cider-review-2-towns-ciderhouses-cidre.html

Bright Cider: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2016/07/cider-review-roundup-common-cider-co.html

Find out more online: https://2townsciderhouse.com/

Here’s the Pearadise’s Official description: 

Imperial Getaway. Fruity and complex, Pearadise is found in this distinctly Northwest libation. Fresh-pressed pears are fermented together with local apples, then finished by blending in a touch of white wine, resulting in a sophisticated imperial style with plenty of panache. 8.6% ABV, which explains the Imperial tagline.

On the same page it say, “Made with D’Anjou pears and Muscat grapes.”

Thank you for the fruit detail. That’s always something I appreciate. Also, this cider is a revamp of a 2012 limited edition cider, tweaked up the aromas and structure. This bottle was shared with me as a review sample.

Appearance: brilliant, deep straw, some bubble

This cider looks very appealing. I appreciate its brilliance and deep color. The color would most often be called straw but its deep and a hint warmer than some ciders that receive the term.

Aromas: ripe apples, pears, grapes, all dusted in sugar

Oh la la! These aromas are striking and different. I can smell sugar-dusted fruits, primarily ripe red apples, but also pears and grapes. I also get the impression of tropical fruits. There’s also a creamy note going on in the Pearadise. I get some salivary response for certain to all this excitement.

Sweetness/dryness: sweet

This is one sweet and fruity cider.

Flavors and drinking experience: fruity, sweet, boozy

This is definitely influence by the pear juice in flavor, but it feels much more tropical than that. I can taste pineapple and citrus as well. The fruity notes play together nicely in concert. The initial hit of flavor is distinctly sweet but it shows some maturation as the flavor builds and develops. There’s even the briefest glimpse of astringency in the mid-palate, but it vanishes quickly. 

What I do notice is that the booziness impacts the mouthfeel and the finish. It feels a little hot. I enjoy this cider’s tartness, even as sweetness eventually dominates. This is a complex beverage with a lot going on. I had mine with a very summery plate of corn, baked beans, and new potatoes. It worked well with those simple foods because this beverage has enough flare on its own!

Wildcraft Cider Works Hard Cider

Now for a cider from Oregon: Wildcraft Ciderworks Hard Cider. This is my first writing about anything by Wildcraft Ciderworks. They are based in Eugene, Oregon and have this to say about themselves, 

At WildCraft Cider Works, we pride ourselves on developing innovative, artisanal dry ciders inspired by traditional and wild methodology. We insist on whole fruit and botanicals grown in Oregon to create pure ciders without artificial flavorings, sulfites or added sweeteners. WildCraft cider is uniquely dry cider unpasteurized & bottle conditioned. We consider ourselves stewards of the outdoors and always act consciously to ensure that our ingredients are regional.

These concepts of local fruit, wild fermentation, minimal additives is a distinct style of low-intervention cidermaking. Looking at the website makes me very curious to try the other styles the cidery makes, including several dry fruit-blended ciders. I got this bottle entirely by chance in the Portland, Oregon airport on my last trip there.  

I’m starting with the flagship hard cider. Here’s its official description

Hard Cider6.9%  ABV  |  500mlOur flagship Dry Cider, made entirely from Oregon apples is locally sourced and pressed. This is a classic dry session cider with enough complexity to enjoy year round, all the time. Unpasteurized & bottle conditioned.

Appearance: Hazy, lemon curd, bubbly

This cider looks hazy and very bubbly in the glass. The color reminds me of lemon curd.

Aromas: yeasty, lemon, hay, phenolic

The cider smells like good clean bakery yeast in a good way. I surmised that it might have been fermented with a nonstandard yeast based on the aroma before reading about the cider. Other aroma notes include lemon and hay. Something about it also smells phenolic and a bit cottony.

Dryness/sweetness: Dry

Whoa. Yeah. This is a dry cider

Flavors and drinking experience: lemon, tannic, grapefruit, high acid

Lots of what came through in the aromas of this cider remain present in its flavors also. This dry cider tastes very lemony and somewhat phenolic. There’s a tiny sweet note that appaers and then disappears almost instantly. The tannins, astringency, and bubbles all conspire to rise fast and cancel out the sweetness.They then flourish brightly before a relatively clean finish.

What a fascinating cider! I found it super refreshing. This cider tastes best in big sips. I love that nice grapefruit-peel flavor that causes such salivary action. Some of the wild fermentation comes across in grainy notes flavor notes. Overall this cider is fun and super tart and dry. I had mine with a version of Cobb Salad (radishes and veggie bacon, yay!) and homemade multi-grain bread. That was utterly fantastic. 

The last thing I’d like to share today is the full GLINTCAP results. There are so many ciders here I’ve never tried! And so much sounds delicious. This would be a great list to shop from, just find your favorite style and start tracking down the golds (and silvers and bronzes)!

http://glintcap.org/

Cider Review: Blake’s Hard Cider Black Philip and Ploughman Cider’s Pinot N’Arlet

April has arrived! We may still get snow in upstate New York later this week, but I’m determined to see spring. This week, my plan to experience more spring than the weather allows, I’m going to share my thoughts on two fruit ciders. What could be more springy than fresh fruit flavors?

My Cideries for the week start with Blake’s Hard Cider out of Michigan. This cider makes a number of lines of ciders; that’s one of their key characteristics. They have a year round selection, seasonal ciders, and two different high end limited release lines. Additionally, they have a tasting room that’s also a bar and restaurant in Armada, Michigan.

Read more about all of the endeavors at: http://www.blakeshardcider.com

My previous reviews of Blake’s ciders include:

The Tonic with cucumber and ginger: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/03/cider-review-blakes-hard-cider-companys.html

El Chavo with habanero and mango: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2015/11/cider-review-blakes-hard-cider-companys.html

Snapdragon with rum raisins: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2017/11/cider-review-blakes-hard-ciders.html

Today I’m sharing my review of Blake’s Hard Cider Black Phillip. This was shared in an array of samples from Blake’s Hard Cider. I’ve been looking forward to this cider for a long while because the name is inspired by a character in one of my favorite films, The Witch (2015). And I am a sucker for those rustic gothic stylings on the can.

Any film buffs or New England folklorists that haven’t seen this yet should stop reading immediately and watch this movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4263482/)

Blake’s Official Description reads: Our award winning semi-sweet hard cider infused with an array of cranberries and blood orange. Permeate your favorite autumn nights with our newest creation, Black Phillip; the question is, would you like to live deliciously? ABV 4.5%

The connection between the cider’s style and its name, at least for my guess, has to come from the cranberries due to their New England connection.

Appearance Hazy, peach, few bubbles

Wow! I don’t see very many hazy ciders, but that’s the only way to describe this one. It’s not cloudy. There aren’t many visible bubbles. I’d describe the color as peachy but warm.

Aromas: orange, fruit punch, spicy, dust

This cider smells like oranges and peanuts and fruit punch and sweet tarts; dust, spiciness

Sweetness/dryness: semi-sweet

This is a semi-sweet cider. It doesn’t go overboard with sweetness, but its also

Flavors and drinking experience: twiggy, blood orange, cranberry

This cider tastes more mild and woody or twiggy than I was expecting. The most prominent flavor is the blood orange but the cranberry does play a crucial role for balance. Yes, I do taste some apple; that's the question most cider aficionados ask about any fruit blended cider. The goal is for the beverage to achieve a balance of apple and other flavors and not for apple notes to disappear entirely. As I said, this surprisingly gentle—especially when i think of the film and the character that name it.

The Black Phillip has medium acidity, low tannins, and a relatively mellow level of sparkle. I find it very refreshing and easy drinking. It's absolutely pleasant if not shocking and striking. It's quite hard to think of another cider that tastes like this. I enjoy its appealing sense of restraint. Perhaps that's the New England character coming out after all.

I'd not pair this with anything too overpowering. I want this cider to shine, so I'd serve it on its own or with something relatively easy going like a mushroom sherry soup or a spinach salad.

Ploughman Farm Cider

I was introduced to Ploughman ciders when I judged at the Pennsylvania Farm Show last year, and I was mightily impressed. I’d really like to visit the Farm Cidery in Adams County when I can. The company only sources their apples from one place, the local Three Springs Fruit Farm; I can’t think of a much greater commitment to local cider. The selection varies seasonally.

 

Visit the website to learn more about this up and coming cidery: https://www.ploughmancider.com/

I got my bottle of Pinot N’Arlet as an remainder from the competition.

Here’s the official description: Apples were our first love, but when a neighbor offered us a batch of Pennsylvania-grown Pinot Noir grapes, we couldn’t say no. This wild yeast fermented cider combines the elegance of these grapes with the ruddy, rustic sweetness of Macoun and Arlet (hence the name) apples. Dry and blush-colored, it’s extremely food-friendly. ABV 7.5%

Appearance: brilliant, bubbly, pink

This has the most lovely rose color and many visible bubbles. Its completely tantalizing. 

Aromas: dust, stones, red grapes

The Pinot N’Arlet smells dusty and grapey. Specifically it smells like apples and fresh red grapes.

Sweetness/dryness: Off Dry

This is a just off dry cider, but one that packs a lot of fruit intensity without much sweetness.

Flavors and drinking experience: Balanced, just a little sour, fruity

The Pinot N’Arlet is just a little bit sour, but not too much. It does bring that tangy high acid throughout each drink. I love how its stony at the same time as being fruity. The fruit notes are mostly berries with strawberries dancing to the forefront of my mind as I sip.

One thing I definitely noticed is that this cider tastes more clean than wild fermentations usually do! It has a nice balance between fruit, acid, and body. I had this with wonderful homemade japanese food and dear friends, but I could see pairing this cider with a diverse range of dishes. I would be thrilled to try it with a leek and asparagus frittata or with roasted salmon and pasta primavera. When Ploughman describes it as food friendly, I think they are onto something.

I enjoyed both of my fruity ciders very much. Hopefully soon we can be sipping these things outside in the spring sunshine!