Orchard managers, apple growers and cidermakers from all over the country gathered on 1st August for the annual National Association of Cider Makers (NACM) Orchard and Machinery Day. This year, emphasis was on the importance of orchard management in producing the consistently high quality of fruit it needs in its cidermaking.
Hosted by Thatchers at their Shiplate orchard around 250 people from across the industry came along for the event. Gordon Johncox, NACM Chair, opened the orchard walk with an update about the cider market and NACM priorities to support a return to cider category growth. During the walk guests heard from industry experts in varying aspects of orchard management, and the importance of healthy orchards and apple production.
Advice on topics such as soil analysis and nutrition, hedgerow planting and the importance of fruit quality were shared by the Thatchers team, alongside experts including agronomist Matt Greep and cider apple expert John Worle.
Also attending the day were a number of PhD students currently taking part in the NIAB-EMR programme, supported by the NACM. Dr Louisa Robinsorn-Boyer from NIAB EMR gave an update on the importance of the joint industry PhD programme and the essential research that the students will carry out on cider apples over the course of three years.
The importance of long term research was again demonstrated by seeing the rows of newer apple varieties such as Angela, Lizzie and Prince William. These have been developed through research and innovation for many years, by the NACM and its members, extending the apple season and adding more flavour variety into the UK grown cider apple crop.
“Bringing the apple growing and cidermaking communities together in an event such as the Orchard and Machinery Day helps everyone understand the issues we as an industry are all facing – from politics, the changing market to climate change – so we can continue to make excellent products that people want to buy,” concluded Richard Johnson, quality manager at Thatchers Cider.
Richard Johnson, Chris Muntz-Torres (Thatchers), Liz Copas, Gordon Johncox (NACM Chair/CEO Aston Manor)
The county of Herefordshire is coming together to host the first conference of the recently-formed International Network of Cider Culture & Tourism Destinations this autumn. As interest in cider continues to grow throughout the world, “Ciderlands” as the network is known, seeks to promote travel and cultural exchanges between classic and emerging cider regions, as well as to act as a cider tourism beacon for the world as a whole. Comprising four days of activities across the county in peak harvest time, Ciderlands 2019 will offer an unparalleled showcase of the region’s proud cider heritage to the cider tourism professionals from throughout the network. In addition, a number of notable public events offer the opportunity to leave a legacy of celebrating the region’s unique cider culture within the local community. Delegates will enjoy the full Herefordshire experience, with visits to classic country pubs, a tour of the Mappa Mundi and the opportunity to visit The Big Apple’s Harvestime festival, complete with traditional cidermaking and apple displays. Crucially, Ciderlands provides an opportunity to remind Herefordians of cider’s great heritage as well as the role that cider continues to play in the county. A Cider Celebration will take place at The Cider Museum on Friday 11 October, while The Green Dragon will host a Cider Banquet the like the City has never seen on Saturday 12 October. To achieve this, the Museum of Cider, Hereford, is joining forces with The Big Apple Association, Hereford’s iconic city centre hotel, The Green Dragon, and tourism partners Hereford Tourism Information and Eat Sleep Live Herefordshire. Working alongside these organisations to bring this event to life are two of the country’s leading cider authorities: Gabe Cook, aka The Ciderologist, and Little Pomona co-founder and cider writer, Susanna Forbes. Support from The Pippin Trust, the Three Counties Cider & Perry Association, plus a host of cider producers large and small is enabling the conference to realise its vision. “Within the Ciderlands network, what stands out for me is how other countries with a strong cider heritage are proud to have cider at the heart of their regional identity,” said Elizabeth Pimblett, director of the Museum of Cider. “And, if visitors are excited by that in one part of Europe, it would be wonderful to create links that will draw them to the others.” “Herefordshire is one of the world’s greatest cidermaking regions and cultures”, said Susanna. “We want to share this with cider tourism professionals from all over the world.”
“I have had the privilege to travel the world to make, taste and judge cider,” said Gabe. “I can say with absolute confidence that some of the finest ciders and perries in the world are made right here. Ciderlands 2019 will give us the opportunity to celebrate these brilliant drinks with those from near and far.” Haritz Rodriguez, head of the Ciderlands secretariat, said: “There is a close cultural relationship between cider-producing countries. For this reason, as happens in other sectors, international cooperation is essential. At this crucial moment in cider’s evolution, we want to unite to cooperate in the development of this industry and above all to promote culture and tourism.”
Ciderlands 2019 is brought to you with the support of the following sponsors: The Pippin Trust • Green Dragon Hotel • Westons Cider • Heineken | Bulmer’s Three Counties Cider & Perry Association • The National Association of Cider Makers
GLOUCESTER, UK – From Friday 23rd August – Sunday 25th, Witcombe Cider Festival is taking place in Brockworth, Gloucestershire. The festival is headlined by Dizzee Rascal, Plan B, and Faithless, and hosts an amazing line-up, including David Rodigan, Yungen, Shy FX, Preditah, Sub Focus, Phats and Small and many others. The festival showcases over FIFTY varieties of cider for the thousands who will attend the event. However, the festival was not always this size. It was founded in 2012 when Joe Pointon, with the help of his brother Danny, put on a festival at his local cricket club due to brewing too much cider. This event saw two-hundred people attend. This year thousands will head to the festival site to attend one of the fastest growing festival’s in the UK. It is the festival’s second year at this site, after having to move in 2018 after outgrowing it’s 2013-2017 site. For those who don’t like cider, the festival has a designated gin, Pimm’s and prosecco tent and last year served nearly 9000 pints of lager. Tickets are selling out faster than ever and this is set to be the festival’s biggest year to date.
Despite this rapid growth, the Pointon brothers continue to run the festival independently and have not forgotten their roots. They are intent upon championing local business, 95% of the festival being built by local companies and contractors. “We think it’s massively important to use the festival to support local businesses” says Joe. “Not only does it support local people and local companies, but also creates a real community feel about the festival and a buzz around the site and in the local community.” The festival is also offering camping this year for the first time. This is due to the high numbers of people travelling from across the country to attend this event. Local attendees can book bus tickets from either Cheltenham or Gloucester to take them to the Brockworth Road site, details of these can be found on the festival’s website. There are an array of tickets on offer, including weekend tickets, day tickets, youth tickets, VIP tickets, an expert lead cider tasting experience and VIP party tents for large groups. Again, detail of these can be found on the festival website: www.witcombeciderfestival.co.uk.
Contact: Calum Mason Phone: 07530512778 Email: calum@witcombeciderfestival.co.uk
It’s exciting times at Dunkertons Organic cider as they celebrate new international award wins and a complete packaging refresh, just in time for what is hopefully a glorious British Summer.
Dunkertons began in 1980 with the pioneering spirit and vision of their founders, Ivor & Susie Dunkerton. Their vision was to craft organic ciders in harmony with the environment to support the natural eco-system and were the first UK cidery to be certified organic as a grower & producer with the Soil Association. They only use whole pressed organic apples or pears and mature their ciders in single VATs similar to winemaking, for over 12 months, resulting in all their ciders or perry containing over 90% juice. Their ciders and perry are world renowned for their famous ‘deep flavour’.
Lee Holdstock, Trade Relations Manager for the Soil Association commented, “It’s been a pleasure certifying Dunkertons for over 20 years, and it’s great to see them facing the future with the same pioneering spirit that has shaped everything they do. By growing organically for so long, without chemical pesticides or herbicides, the orchards that provide Dunkertons’ apples will have been contributing to better soil health, cleaner air and higher levels of insect life. In fact, organic farms have 50% more wildlife than non-organic. Shoppers are increasingly interested in where their drinks come from, both in terms of the provenance of the cider and terroir. On both these counts, organic production delivers high quality ciders for drinkers to enjoy, just as Dunkerton’s has been doing for over two decades.”
The new packaging includes embossed labels, tactile inks, gold foils and the addition of neck labels plus the addition of new cyclops tasting notes and food pairing on the back labels. Dunkertons are confident the new presentation of their premium organic ciders and perry will genuinely appeal to today’s discerning cider drinkers.
Dunkertons are also launching a new deep flavoured 5% ABV Craft cider in a 500ml bottle and a 330ml can which is the first in the can format for the cider company. The organic Craft cider was developed over a few years to ensure the ‘deep flavour’ was captured and they are confident that the new format and lower ABV will make Dunkertons even more appealing to a wider range of discerning cider drinkers.
Continuing their pioneering spirit Dunkertons are also going to be the first cider company to include a scale for sweetness, acidity and tannins on their packaging, all of which help deliver the flavour of the cider. Most ciders just distinguish between sweet and dry but this doesn’t give the drinker a full understanding of the complex flavours within each cider. Dunkertons have also included a food pairing for each cider to drive awareness of cider as a great accompaniment with food.
The packaging launch follows on from a triumphant start to the year for Dunkertons with Black Fox winning Gold for Best in Class and second place in the Traditional Dry Cider category, with Organic Dry and Organic Perry winning bronze at the 2019 Great Lakes International Cider & Perry Competition (GLINTCAP). Meanwhile in the International Cider Challenge 2019 Breakwell Seedling won a gold medal.
Co-owner Julian Dunkerton commented, “2019 will be another milestone in the history of Dunkertons Organic Cider Company. Our organic ciders and perry have a very strong following but we knew the brand presentation required a complete refresh and that we needed a lower ABV cider in the range to appeal to a wider range of today’s discerning cider drinkers. The new packaging looks fantastic and each label reflects the individual characteristics of the deep flavour that all our ciders are renowned for. Launching these straight off the back of our award wins sees us entering another exciting chapter in the Dunkertons story”.
Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Company are celebrating after winning this prestigious award at the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming ceremony held in Bristol. The radio 4 programme saw over 400 nominations nationally for the various categories and the judges had the difficult task of whittling this down to three producers in each category.
Albert Johnson
In the Best Drink Producer category, they were named finalists alongside Northern Monk and Arbikie Distillery and were understandably delighted when the winner of the category was announced. Albert Johnson, who collected the award, explained “Amazing and unbelievable. Cider and perry are in a great moment right now. People are more interested in drinks with traceability, accountability and integrity and those principles are at the heart of everything we do. It’s about making natural cider and perry, showcasing heritage and tradition through vintage varieties of cider apples and perry pears, and having something that tastes amazing at the end of it“.
The judges take the task of identifying the best very seriously. Albert explained “on the day back in April that they visited us, we were expecting them to stay for a couple of hours, but they ended up staying for 4.5 hours walking round the orchard and tasting their ciders, there was so much to talk about.”
The annual BBC4 Food and Farming awards were launched in 2000 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BBC Radio 4 Food Programme, to honour those who have done most to promote the cause of good food.
