Once our cider apples are picked, we press them traditionally, squeezing the juice gently between cloths, which we call cheeses.
We only use the wild yeast for our primary fermentation as we want the apple's flavours' to express themselves. We then leave the juice 'sur lees' (on the sediment) to further develop their complexity.
We leave our barrels on the North side of our cider house over winter to ferment slowly. We occasionally conduct 'battonage' on the juice, which is stirring the lees which have sunk to the bottom of the barrels, to further develop the flavour.
Once the primary fermentation is over, we bottle the fermented apple juice, adding Champagne yeast and sugar so that a secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle to create the fizz.
They are sealed with a temporary crown cap. The champagne bottles are then placed in 'stillage' (storage) where they are rested on their sides in our dark, cool ciderhouse to further bottle-condition their flavours.
The champagne bottles are then put into our riddling racks, (oak wine racks made in Champagne). Each day we hand-turn every bottle (called remuage) for six weeks to shake the sediment from the secondary fermentation towards the neck of the bottle.
After 6 weeks, the bottles are inverted and placed into a neck freezer, and the crown caps are removed, ejecting the frozen sediment out from the neck of the bottles. This process is called disgorging. A champagne cork is inserted into the cork and a muselet (wire cage) is fitted to hold the Champagne cork in place.
We only use the wild yeast for our primary fermentation as we want the apple's flavours' to express themselves. We then leave the juice 'sur lees' (on the sediment) to further develop their complexity.
We leave our barrels on the North side of our cider house over winter to ferment slowly. We occasionally conduct 'battonage' on the juice, which is stirring the lees which have sunk to the bottom of the barrels, to further develop the flavour.
Once the primary fermentation is over, we bottle the fermented apple juice, adding Champagne yeast and sugar so that a secondary fermentation occurs in the bottle to create the fizz.
They are sealed with a temporary crown cap. The champagne bottles are then placed in 'stillage' (storage) where they are rested on their sides in our dark, cool ciderhouse to further bottle-condition their flavours.
The champagne bottles are then put into our riddling racks, (oak wine racks made in Champagne). Each day we hand-turn every bottle (called remuage) for six weeks to shake the sediment from the secondary fermentation towards the neck of the bottle.
After 6 weeks, the bottles are inverted and placed into a neck freezer, and the crown caps are removed, ejecting the frozen sediment out from the neck of the bottles. This process is called disgorging. A champagne cork is inserted into the cork and a muselet (wire cage) is fitted to hold the Champagne cork in place.
