Durham Ciders - 'Together Again' - Apple + Quince Cider - California, USA - 2019

This fruit pet-nat is our first ever release! Complex and balanced. Wild and exotic. Tastes like the joyful revelry that will arise when we are together again.
94% Newtown Pippin apples, certified organic, from the century-old Five Mile Orchard in Watsonville, CA.
6% Quince harvested from one untreated, century-old tree in the Los Padres National Forest at Majestic Ranch in Cayucos, CA.
Maceration: Quince – 7 days
Fermentation: Spontaneous (Quince blended 12 days before bottling)
Vessel: Apples - Heavyweight Polyethylene, Quince – Glass Demijohn
Additives: None - unfined, unfiltered, zero S02
Carbonation: Petillant Naturel
750 mL bottle / 8.5% alc. by vol.
Artwork: Justine Saint-Lo
Vintage: 2019
Pair with: Groove Armada's 'Don't Give Up'
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My first memory of collecting fruit took place as a child high up in a crab apple tree in South Jersey. Apple Annie is my grandmother and we would press those apples in the front yard using her green basket press. Fast forward three decades to a Colorado front yard where now it was my daughter picking fruit in an old apple tree. From this tree's bounty in 2014 I would ferment my first cider.
We have spent many hours planting, observing, studying and caring for fruiting trees, bushes and vines all while focusing on soil regeneration. Fruit grown following nature's lead is very important to our low-intervention winemaking style. All of the vineyards, orchards, ranches and farms we associate with are worked organically or beyond.
durham cider + wine co. utilizes nature's generosity through the magical meanderings of natural fermentation. The fruit is allowed to speak and then gently guided towards balance without manipulation. It is our belief that within the imperfections cider, wine and life become perfect.
For a cider or wine to truly become a beautiful beverage it needs to be openly available in a welcoming manner to all showing interest while treating everyone involved with respect.

Enjoy the juice!

Rob Durham
Fermenter of Fruits and Pommelier