Ditch the Red Delicious; forget Granny Smith, Gala and Fuji. . .
If you want a really tasty, tart apple, try Goldrush. The sweet but astringent taste bowled me over. The bite has a crunch resonating with the falling leaves and a tart sweetness that lingers after the bite. It has a distinctive, friendly personality (if an apple can have a personality)–light yellow with a faint blush-and light brown freckles. Introduced in the late 20th century from the Purdue University breeding program, the Goldrush is one of the heirloom varieties featured in the flesh or fermented in cider at Albemarle CiderWorks, in North Garden, an orchard just south of Charlottesville.
And if Charlotte Shelton has anything to do with it, ciders made with Goldrush and other vintage apples, will be as good or better than a glass of wine to accompany a gourmet meal. It’s “food friendly,” with a 9.9 percent alcohol content, according to Charlotte, owns the family-run business with her two brothers.
“We got interested in these apples for flavor. Apples comprise a huge range of flavors,” ranging from tart to sweet, bland to acidic, and aromatic, hinting of citrus, pear and other fruits, explains Charlotte. The commonly known apples such as the Granny Smith, Fuji, and Red Delicious, don’t have “the complex flavor” or the tannins that make a good cider, she says.
About 17,000 varieties once thrived on American farms. “Cider was what everyone drank,” says Charlotte. Now there are 250 varieties, but Americans get just a handful of the least tasty ones at the typical grocery store. When Americans moved from farms to the city, apple orchards were abandoned; beer and wine replaced cider. As for the cider now available in most stores, Charlotte is disdainful by what she calls “applepop,” which often has sugar or additives and a bland taste in an effort to extend shelf life.
Getting started in cider
It was at a cider-tasting at Monticello in 2007 conducted by the late Tom Burford, the famed apple expert from Amherst County, Virginia, when Charlotte started investigating and growing vintage apples for the establishment of a cidery, with a full range of tastings and online sales. She bought ten different varieties to grow in her family’s orchard. “I didn’t realize then we were right on the cusp of the interest in cider-making.”
After collecting and growing some 250 varieties, she and her brothers hit upon the idea of establishing a cidery. Albemarle CiderWorks launched in 2009 and now offers a full range of tastings and online sales, plus seminars on how to grow apples.
And to make good cider, you need the varieties that offer such a range of taste and tanins to make a fementable product. Just as table grapes do not make good wine, the sweet standard apples do not make good cider.
Harrison revival
Which brings us back to the heirloom varieties, like the Harrison. “The Harrison is probably the best cider apple America ever produced. It’s dry and pithy, but presses a rich, high brix juice that makes exceptional cider,” Charlotte says. Thought to be extinct, a Harrison apple tree was spotted in 1976 by an apple collector in a New Jersey backyard just before it was to be cut down. The apple grower gathered scions that could be grafted and sent some to Tom Burford who propagated the trees and made them available to the Sheltons. Today Albermarle CiderWorks is growing 150 Harrison apple trees along with other difficult to find varieties.
Don’t expect a pick-your-own opportunity here, though. The emphasis is on apples for cider. Today deep in the orchard, with the Blue Ridge in the distance, Albemarle CiderWorks hosts a lovely tasting room, along with outdoor tables where visitors sample their favorite ciders.
I bought a variety of really delicious vintage apples from boxes outside of the tasting room and three bottles of cider that converted me to using cider for pre-dinner drinks with guests.
This year Virginia Hewe’s Crab won the Virginia Governor’s Cup for Best in Show, an annual competition hosted by the Virginia Wineries Association. The CiderWorks’ cider list describes the Virginia Hewe’s Crab with terms associated with the finest wines: “tart, well-balanced with notes of citrus and pineapple.” Another unique cider blends Dabinett with Harrison, to produce “notes of white grape and black tea.”
Cider pioneers
The Sheltons have been pioneers in cidermaking since 2007. Brother Charles is the cidermaker and Brother Bill manages the nursery. Other family members help out. Charlotte is the enthusiastic cider promoter.
On the day I was there, she was packing a sample box of apples for Food and Wine which will do a piece on ciders next year. Next week she will be speaking with NPR on vintage apple tasting. Their prize-winning ciders are available at wine stores throughout the Charlottesville area, plus a few stores in Washington, DC and Montgomery County. See here for full list of stores that feature CiderWorks.
The interest in cider has spread to 50 cideries in Virginia, which will be participating in Virginia Cider Week, November 11-20. Many of the cideries are CiderWorks neighbors but the competition doesn’t bother the cider connoisseur.
“We need some critical mass to expand the market,” says Charlotte. The growth of cideries in Virginia] is “wonderful– as long as they do the right kind of cider.”