Eve’s Cidery Autumn’s Gold Cider

Eve's Cidery Autumn's Gold Cider

Autumn Stoscheck and James Cummins started Eve’s Cidery in 2001, using fruit James had been growing at his small orchard in the southern Finger Lakes. Early on the pair committed to using heritage apple varieties and to making terroir-driven cider. “Contained within the apple is the potential to express both the characteristics of the varieties used, and the characteristics of the land they were grown on,” Autumn writes, in her orchard cider manifesto. “In this way, cider can be to apples what wine is to grapes, which is to say infinitely complex and varied….”

Autumn’s Gold is a traditional method dry sparkling cider, made in stainless steel then bottled and aged for 18 months sur lattes prior to hand disgorgement. The blend is about two-thirds mixed dessert apple varieties (Tydeman’s, Cox’s Orange, Idared, Jonagold, Geneva Early, Macoun, and Akane) plus cider apples Yarlington Mill, Northern Spy, Ellis Bitter, and Kingston Black. This batch is from the 2016 harvest; 93 cases were made.

The color is solid gold, and its active pour quiets swiftly into chains of pearly bubbles. The scent is bracing and clean, with honeyed top notes accented with wild thyme. The palate crackles with autumnal fruits and gingery, birch-wood tannins, while a finishing blaze of juicy green apple acidity mingles with snappy astringency. This is not an earthy cider; instead it feels direct, fruit-centric, savory. It’s great as an aperitif or served with a wide range of savory fare.