Piquenique ‘Road Trip’ Apple Cider

Location: United States, Washington, San Juan Islands

Winemakers: Tess Bryant, Niccolo Coturri

Fruit: Apples

Soil: Sandstone, limestone

Cidermaking: Very long, slow fermentation

From us at M&L: Tess says that this is the only wine made from fruit not from the island—they sourced apples from organic farmers across the border in Canada (lucky for them, these guys’ orchards were planted in the 1940s!). Very crisp and with tight bubbles and clean citrus-y fruit.

From the Producers: In 2019, we moved to the San Juan Islands in Washington along the Canadian border to explore what the world of farming and viticulture had to offer outside our familiar world of Sonoma and Northern California. We settled here with the intention of (eventually) buying land on which to plant orchards, vines, and gardens, and in the meantime we have set up a small winery in which last year we produced 700 cases of sparkling wines from purchased, local, organic/non-sprayed apples, grapes, pears, plums, quince, blackberries and medlar. The fruit has been picked and processed by us. Everything was processed and produced without additions, and bottled as a pet nat: no added sugars, yeasts, oak or sulfites at any time ever. Everything was fermented and aged in glass or stainless steel, and nothing was or will be disgorged.