“We have a special technology fermenting fruit, and cider is more like wine than beer, as it was before “- says Janet Docherty, one of the owners of Merridale Estate Cidery – plant producing cider. “We are in a good sense of conservatives, that is not looking for volume, use pure juice and not use any additives. ” Being a traditionalist means more and grow the same varieties of apples, and that in the last century. These are special varieties that are not very suitable for food: they have very high content of tannin, a substance that imparts the fruits tartness and even bitterness. It all began with the purchase of the manor “Merrideyl”, where in 2003 and the factory was built.
Janet and Rick developed a technology for eight types of cider by producing it from fruits grown in their own gardens. They’re doing a traditional British cider, dry and “Norman” – in the French style, aged in oak barrels, and new species, with the addition of local honey and berries. Not far from them, in place Saanikton, Bruce and Christine Jordan run “Sea Cider”, where they grow their own garden of a thousand apple trees, overlooking the ocean, including to and from special classes, which miraculously survived during Prohibition in effect at the North American continent. As in, “Merridale,” product “Sea Cider” is a mix of old and new: its cider “Wild English” wanders from the “wild” yeast, “Kings and Spies,” reminiscent of the Italian sparkling white wine, the alcohol is made from several varieties of apples: and special, and an unknown variety that emerged in itself through the mutual pollination of many trees for decades. Unlike “Merrideyla”, “Sea Cider” – and a place of pilgrimage for tourists. It is open to the public all year round, and visitors can taste and, of course, to buy alcohol, but also to make a short trip on the farm.
In the spring and in summer guests can sit on a specially built stylized deck, sipping cider and enjoying the endless views of the gardens and the water surface. In the Okanagan Valley is, of course, their own, very young tradition production of alcohol. So, Raven Ridge Cidery started production of a very unexpected: her famous “ice” apple cider was the result of unexpected early frost in 2002, when there is not collected apples frozen on the trees. But owners of orchards have decided not to sit back, losing crops: ingenuity has done its job, and frozen apples went into business. “Frost is separated from the water nectar, and it is this property we use for our “Ice” cider “, – says marketing manager Rick Priscus. “He’s not cheap, but that left a bottle of 375 ml. It takes about hundreds of apples.” According to Rick, the secret to their success – in the careful handling, the finest local fruits and a good dose of intuititsii: “We did everything in small batches, by hand, and all the finds appeared quite spontaneously, but now all these findings have become the rule, and our products every year will get only better.