Farm Cider | Geneva Crab 2022/23

Site 
Oakley Farm - Warm Springs, Bath County Virginia 2400’ elevation 
-High-density orchard on G11 rootstock planted in 2019 located in the ‘hay field’, site of the farm’s original 19th century orchard planted by the Francisco family. 
-Soil composition: Hayter loam on top of Ordovician limestone.
-Practicing regenerative organic farming. Bio-intensive rotation of poultry and sheep, rotational cover crops within drip lines. No use of heavy metal sprays, no cultivation. Biannual biological mowing only.

Fruit
64% Geneva Crab, 11% Brooder Green Seedling, 11% Piel de Sapa, 7% Dabinett , 4% Coloradona, 3% Solarina

Vinification
Harvest of Geneva Crab started in mid August and ran through the first week of September 2022. Late picks were macerated for several days before being pressed and combined with earlier pressings in a neutral French oak barrel. Later additions of Coloradona, Solarina, and Piel de Sapa were added later in September and the barrel was topped off with a fresh Brooder Green pressing in October, creating a continuous, uninoculated native fermentation through out most of the harvest. Occasional battage was implemented in late fall and afterwards the cider rested undisturbed for 12 months. In late October of 2023, the cider was racked off its gross/fine lees and blended in tank with a fermenting cider of Dabinett and Piel de Sapa of the 2023 harvest. The blended fermenting cider was then bottled, capturing the carbonation petillant naturel. The cider sat on its lees in bottle for six months before being hand disgorged in late April of 2024. No additions of SO2 were made at any stage of this wine.

Notes
2022 marked our largest harvest yet out of the orchard here at Oakley Farm. This vintage offered our first diversified view into what the orchard could provide. We decided to release three out of the four barrels over the holidays this past year as individual bottlings but the forth we were less certain what to do with. Being predominately Geneva Crab, we found the fruit and acid compelling but overall lacked body and aromatic pop. As we often do in similar situations, we decided to sit on the cider and let future inspiration guide its path. In 2023, we hit a major set back and lost a majority of our crop to severe frost. What fruit we did end of up with was special though; concentrated and expressive. As the last pressing of Piel de Sapa and Dabinett proved to be more than we needed to top a barrel, we made the quick decision to blend the excess fermenting cider with the 2022 Geneva as the liqueur de tirage. The result has been magical, transforming the lackluster cider into one of the most expressive to date from Oakley. Fresh fruit jumps out of the glass, preserved from the quasi-pet nat addition. This precise aroma yields to snappy acide and soft tannins that linger, finishing silky.

170 bottles produced, 6.95% Alc. by Volume, 750ml