English Terroir

15/3/13

JAKES ORCHARD Pure Still Kent Apple Cider    5.4%  750ml

The raw ingredients are Cox, Bramley and Russet apples grown on the Hush Heath Estate. Very much a winemakers approach to the making, top quality fruit, cool fermentation with selected yeasts, cold sterile bottling into 75cl burgundy bottles.

Pale silver gold in colour absolutely clear and bright. Apple, apple pie , rose-petal on the nose , refreshing with almost winelike acidity. Pure and eleagant.

Locally available at Murcatto , Wealden Smokery, Hush Heath

!5/3/13

JAKES ORCHARD Pure Still Kent Cider with Strawberries and Blackcurrant  5.4%   750ml

Pure apple cider with a touch of stawberry and blackcurrant form the home of the pink. A delicate rose with lots of summer berry flavours, clean and balanced with crisp raw berry acidity.

 

WAITROSE PERRY   vintage 2011 8%

I have enjoyed this in the past (about a week ago) and it worth a taste.

Its made from Perry pears not your common or garden Conference or dessert pears which can go into pear ciderits also matured in oak, but more of that later.
The nose is slightly dirty(agricultural not unpleasant), its difficult to judge what influence the oak vats have on the perry, certainly there is no oak flavour. In wine making a 225 l barrel will give about 70% of its oak charater in the first year, after 3 years there nothing apart from the slow oxidative maturation, so in a large old ( probably several thousand litres) oak vessel in truth absolutly minimal.

8% is quite a heavy weight, I’d drink it in a flute in stead of Cava, its better more intersting than quite a few that I have tasted .

The perry is firm, a touch of pear skin and tannin, goes with anything porky and fatty. Drinking it in a flute exposes some of its short comings but , hey it is only £3 /litre

 

 

 

 

 

 

Putting Duchy Originals and Waitrose together is usually an eye-wateringly expensive collision, but today it was 2 for £3 for Duchy Original Organic Herefordshire cider so I had to give it a go.

The first thing you notice is that has more logos than an England rugby shirt, Duchy Originals, Waitrose, Hereford, Organic, The Prince’s Charities, Soil Association, EU Geographical indication, EU agriculture, The Princes Countryside fund, recycling and enjoying alcohol in moderation.

So what about the cider itself? In the glass it is clear and bright, a clean lager like colour. The nose is Apple, slightly cheesy in a fresh brie style, this is translated pretty straight forwardly to the palate, clean, touch of smoke on the finish, perhaps a little short . Enjoyable and refreshing and at 5% not instant brain death, versatile on its own or with food. Feel good allround.

 

 

Knights Premium Reserve Cider

A new delight for me on the cider front has been Knights Premium Reserve Cider, not often in the Malvern area so it has previously passed me by .

It weighs in at 5.8% so maybe its been made without enrichment , no artificial sweetners,colour or added flavours , it has the smack of authenticity .

The colour is a dark gold, mature , it is lightly corbonated with attractive bittersweet apple flavours. Clean, crisp acidity well made and refreshing. Produced on the farm with fruit from the hills . Excellent