We had long wanted to make a Sparkling Grape Cider. Our grapes, local apples...Co-Fermented! We made one and it was delicious, but we wanted to make one even tastier and even more expressive. So, we did it again. Thrilled with the opportunity to work with luscious local apples grown and crushed right down the road at The Halsey Farm and The Milk Pail, we created this delicious sparkling grape cider made in a Method Ancestral style, also known as a Petillant Naturel.
This is a super delicious and fun wine. It is created from 32% Chardonnay juice and 68% apple cider fermented together wild. We wanted to call it "c/Hard Cider" a play on hard cider made with Chardonnay, but the federal regulatory bureau would not have it! We cherished the chance to work with the Halsey family and their incredible apples and cider. Jenn Halsey said there are many varieties of apples in the cider we received including; Red Delicious, Fuji, Mutsu, RubyFrost, Jonagold, Winesap, Granny Smith, Gala, Honeycrisp, Macoun, Snapdragon and likely quite a few others.
There are dynamic aromas and flavors reminiscent of both wine and cider and the interplay back and forth between the two is a delight to experience. The wine is dry and the aromas and flavors and fun just seem to be heightened by the bubbles. The wine possesses lower moderate alcohol at only 9.0% and delicious lively acidity that keeps you coming back for more. We only made 148 cases of this delicious sparkler.
While regulations do not allow us to put a vintage on this wine; all the fruit, both grape and apples, are from the 2021 vintage. We think this wine is pretty special and there are not too many examples of this magical combination of grape juice and apple cider grown so close together. So don't miss the experience and delicious expression & reflection of our East End told through two farms and two distinctly different fruits alchemized together for this awesome sparkling wine! 148 cases produced.
