Cider is Wine?!

We frequently encounter customers eager to taste our wines but have more trepidation when it comes to trying a hard cider flight. Little do they know; these two beverages are far more similar than they realize.

So, what is hard cider?
In a technical sense, hard cider is apple wine. Both wine and cider derive from fermented fruit, in this case grapes and apples.

Though you wouldn’t use table grapes to make wine, eating or “dessert apples” are popularly used to make hard cider. However, we generally use Cider and Heirloom apples for our Archibald James Ciders. Just like winegrapes, these types of apples are higher in sugars, organic acids, phenolic compounds, and aroma compounds. These components give wine and cider far more complex and interesting flavors, textures, and aging potential like you would expect from a fine wine.

Examples of Wine Grapes: Merlot, Syrah, Petite Verdot, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier

Examples of Cider and Heirloom Apples: Brown Snout, Golden Russet, Yarlington Mill, Porter’s Perfection, Pippin, Wickson Crabapples

After harvest, winegrapes and cider apples undergo a series of steps before they are pressed and transferred to tanks and barrels for aging.

White and red winegrapes are typically destemmed prior to fermentation.  In some instances, white wine grapes are allowed to macerate in our cold room for about 1-2 days prior to pressing. This “cold-soak” allows natural yeast and bacteria to begin their work and helps extract more components into the wine. White grapes are pressed and the juice is fermented to produce white wine. 

Freshly destemmed winegrapes.

Freshly pressed white winegrape juice.

Red grapes may sit for 2-4 weeks before pressing, during which time fermentation occurs. As the grapes ferment they will “burst” releasing their juices yielding a mix of skins, seeds, and juice. The alcohol produced during fermentation will aid in extraction of desirable compounds from the grape solids providing more aromas, flavors, color, and phenolics. Because tannins and bitterness are not qualities looked for in a white wine, they sit on the skins for significantly less time than red wines.  Fermentation can occur by the naturally occurring yeast or by using commercial yeast.  We typically use both “wild” yeasts and commercial yeasts to provide different depths of flavors and character to the wines.  It is difficult to achieve this complexity using one yeast on its own. Once fermentation is completed or the desired level of extraction is achieved, fermented grapes are pressed and the wine is separated from the solids, ready for transfer to tanks or barrels for aging.

“Burst” red winegrapes macerating prior to pressing.

Fresh-picked apples may sweat for days or weeks in the cold room depending on the specific apple variety. “Sweating” allows the starches in the apples to convert into sugars – like with the wines, this is also when flavors develop and cell walls soften, aiding in extraction. The apples are milled into a mash and in some cases left to macerate for 1-2 days on the “pomace” before it is pressed. This allows for further flavor development and gives natural yeast and bacteria an opportunity to begin their work.  In some instances, we add other fruits or botanicals to the cider during fermentation (referred to as a “co-fermentation”) where aromas, flavors, and phenolics are extracted into the cider. For instance, you can even craft ciders co-fermented with wine grapes- as an example, our OHM Cider. The pressed juice is fermented into cider by natural and commercial yeasts, which may take from 1 to 3 weeks depending on the temperature and type of yeast. Finished ciders are transferred to tanks or barrels for aging.

“Ground apples ready to macerate before pressing and taking the journey into cider.” - Seth Cohen, Winemaker for Off the Hill’s two wineries: Archibald James and Stemilt Creek

The end result of the cider can have certain characteristics like wine. In fact, you can ask yourself a lot of the same questions while sipping a cider: What color is the cider? Is it clear? Does it have some sediment? What is the nose on this cider or what do I smell when I smell this cider? How about taste and mouthfeel or body? Does it have tannins? What sort of finish does it have? Acidity? Any sourness? You can even “slurp” cider like you would wine to help you answer these questions.

If you, too, find yourself hesitant to try hard cider, perhaps you’d like to give our “apple wine” a try! You will be pleasantly surprised.  You won’t find the heavily sweetened hard apple cider many people say they try to avoid, rather a complex wine with layers of aromas, flavors, and body.

Post by Madison Nicole

Images by Seth Cohen and Madison Nicole