With plenty of space to grow, the cider market is not anywhere near crowded, but the cider consumer is demanding to know what is next. Could it be cider-wine hybrids? Experience a two-for-one with this concept that is catching on across North America. Ever thought that Pippins and Pinot Noir could meld together as a balanced, unified beverage? Indulge your senses by finding out how these six producers are making the combination fuse.
Pomme Rosé | Common Cider
This sparkling hybrid cider from the California cidery will be sure to tingle your taste buds. Featuring an apple base blended with a medium-bodied Grenache rosé wine also from California, a slight hint of raspberries seeps through every sip. The sleek white can has a pink hue that tints all the ingredients picture on the beverage. This cider not only helps satisfy your thirst, but every purchase of this drink donates a portion of the sale to Piggy Bank, a charity that gifts heritage breed pigs to family farmers in need of support in a collaboration with famed food event Cochon 555.
2016 Symbiosis | Art and Science
Half foraged wild Oregon apples and half Grüner Veltliner wine grapes, this smooth sip sources its grapes from a vineyard Art and Science‘s cidermaker/owner also tends. Both fruits are fermented wild together with the skins of the Grüner for 26 days, which provide a little bit of color and a lot of texture. The ferment is then aged in a combo of large Acacia barrels and a French oak barrique for the next 10 months, made bubbly from bottle conditioning through méthode ancestrale. Crisp, refreshing and full, Symbiosis is a unique offering from this Oregon maker.
Aster | Revel Cider
This cider-wine hybrid from this innovative and adventurous Ontario cidermaker almost resembles Champagne as it bubbles in your mouth. Gewürtztraminer and Wickson crab apples are co-fermented — sans any added yeast — on the pomace of the apples, an inverse of the cider above it that provided great aromatics. Like pairing with Champagne, this cider-wine hybrid could benefit from French fries or potato chips.
Apple Pommes & Pinot Noir | Shiny Apple Cider
Pick up this stunning purple geometric can which features a striking collaboration of Pinot Noir and apples. Shiny makes for a perfect drink that is as smooth as it looks, a blend of 90 percent Ontario apple and 10 percent Pinot Noir from the cidery’s sibling vineyard, Small Talk. The drink is also gluten-free — like all cider and wine — but vegan to boot. Buy a pack and chill with your friends on your porch.
Planet of the Grapes | Citizen Cider
Experience a drink that appreciates a good pun and 1963 film reference. The cider from this Vermont producer features a collaboration with nearby Shelburne Vineyard to bring to cider and wine lovers a balanced hybrid, with striking ruby red color that comes from aging the cider on Petite Pearl grape skins. The cidery likens it to Pinot Noir, with bright acid, juicy cherry fruit and an affinity for cheese.
Pinot Noir Barrel | Nomad
A trifecta of apples, wine and barrel fermentation, this pink, dry cider profiles fresh-pressed, British Columbia-grown apples first and foremost. The Summerland, BC, cidery is a fan of barrel-aging, with this being one of several bottlings that go into just-used wine barrels after stainless steel tank fermentation. Here, neutral French oak barrels that previously housed an award-winning BC Pinot Noir held the dry and tannic cider. Vanilla, toffee, cherry (thank you, Pinot Noir) and black currant fill out the palate with inherent apple and acid cleansing the finish.
