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Hard cider's second act

Date published: 6/26/2008

By Brian McNEILL

The Daily Progress

In early America, the undisputed beverage of choice was hard apple cider--even more so than water.

Thomas Jefferson brewed champagne-like cider out of Virginia Hewe's Crab apples at Monticello.

John Adams guzzled a pitcher each morning with his breakfast, citing its positive health benefits.

Yet, these days, hard apple cider has largely fallen out of favor in the United States. Only a few brands, mostly imported from England, remain widely available.

Now, however, an Albemarle County apple orchard is aiming to spark a cider comeback.

"Cider was the libation of choice in Colonial America," said Chuck Shelton of Vintage Virginia Apples on U.S. 29 south of Charlottesville. "We're going to bring cider back."

Vintage Virginia is a family-run orchard that features more than 200 varieties of heirloom and rare apple varieties, as well as unusual peaches, plums, pears and more.

Tuesday night, the orchard got site plan approval from the Albemarle County Planning Commission to build a 3,000-square-foot cidery and an 1,100-square-foot tasting room.

Vintage Virginia hopes to finish construction of its expansion in the fall, with production kicking off in October or November. The tasting room is expected to open to visitors next spring.

Only one other orchard in Virginia is dedicated to making traditional hard apple cider. Foggy Ridge Cider in Dugspur, a tiny hamlet in southwestern Virginia, has been producing three types of hard cider for the past couple of years.

"I haven't heard of anyone else doing this," said Dave Robishaw, a Charlottesville-based apple specialist with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "I'm really excited for them. I think it's going to be great."

Virginia's $235 million apple industry has more than 100 commercial orchards on upwards of 16,000 acres. Few growers produce hard cider, Robishaw said, because the necessary equipment is expensive.

Within its first year, Vintage Virginia hopes to produce around 800 cases of 25.4-ounce bottles of hard cider. Roughly the size of a wine bottle, each bottle of cider will cost between $15 and $20.

Charlotte Shelton, also an owner of Vintage Virginia Apples, said the company is hoping to tap into Central Virginia's growing agritourism market. With dozens of wineries in the region, it seems only natural that thirsty tourists and Charlottesville food lovers would want to check out the complex flavors of high-end cider, she said.

Included among the apples likely to be incorporated in Vintage Virginia's cider will be Jefferson's favorite, Hewe's Crab, as well as Harrison apples, Yates apples, the popular Albemarle Pippin and petite French Lady apples.

"The palate appeal is why we think we'll succeed," Charlotte Shelton said.

The Shelton family is investing a substantial amount of money into the expansion project. Chuck Shelton said it will cost "more than a couple six figures." But they believe it will position the orchard to sustain itself through cider sales well into the future.

"We believe that the cider is something that will be a profit center for us," Charlotte Shelton said.

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Date published: 6/26/2008