Vancouver Island is quickly becoming a fountainhead of British Columbia cideries—its newest being Tod Creek Craft Cider., owned and operated by cider maker Chris Schmidt on his orchard and farm near Prospect Lake. After spending five years restoring and renovating the land on the once-working dairy farm, Schmidt also planted 50 cider variety trees on his orchard. With plans to transplant soon to his estate, he also has 2,400 dwarf trees—with varieties like Dabinett and Kingston Black—growing on the mainland. In the mean time, the majority of the fruit is coming from other Vancouver Island and Okanagan Valley orchards, thus the name of his first canned cider in ode to the land the juice hails from—Tod Creek Vancouver Island. The nose is warm and creamy with notes of Bosc pear, juicy red apple, skin and vanilla flowers. The mouthfeel carries over the aromatic fullness and cream but finishes clean and dry. The Pacific Northwest anxiously awaits more cider varietal releases and Tod Creek is nearly ready to give it to them.
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