2020PatoisCider‘QuakerRun’Virginia,UnitedStates

<p>30% Roxbury Russet, 25% Ashmead’s Kernel, 19% Black Twig, 14% Grimes Golden, 12% Gold Rush from Quaker Run Orchard in Madison, VA. Clay loam with quartz and greenstone gravel, 950’ elevation.</p><p>Quaker Run is a former commercial orchard dating back to the 19th century. Current owners Tom and Debbie Flynn still maintain a few rows of mature apple trees.</p><p>Season:</p><p>2020 taught us why most of the old commercial orchard sites east of the Blue Ridge were planted below 1000’ elevation: late spring frosts claimed almost all fruit in the mountains but spared those further down the slopes.</p><p>A leaner growing season and additional rains around harvest shifted our cellar techniques: instead of producing a still cider as in 2019, we bottled before sugar depletion to capture energy and used longer lees contact in bottle to build texture.</p><p>Fermentation/Development:</p><p>Tom and Patrick picked the apples from early September to mid October. Fruit was left outside in bins for two to four weeks to further concentrate.</p><p>A continuous fermentation carried through harvest as each variety ripened: sorted fruit soaked overnight on skins before being pressed into a neutral 350 L French oak barrel, poly tank, and glass demijohns. These various components were then blended to finish fermenting in bottle.</p><p>Bottles aged on lees for sixteen months before being riddled and disgorged by hand in early May 2022. No SO2 additions were made.</p>