Grower Series - Hobby Horse Farm - 2023

Fruit
A blend of wild and presumably older cultivation apples scattered amongst the upper pastures found on the nearly 1000 acre farm situated just below Bald Knob (4200’) on Warm Springs Mountain’s western slope.

Site 
Hobby Horse Farm - Hot Springs, Bath County Virginia 3000’ elevation

Vinification
Fruit was harvested during two trips up to the farm in early September and mid-October. All fruit was ground and directly pressed to a combination of glass demijohns and a small poly tank. An uninoculated, native primary fermentation carried out over the fall, slowly concluding well into the winter months. The cider aged on its gross and fine lees with limited topping until it was racked and bottled traditional method in late July of 2024 and left undisgorged. No additions of SO2 were made at any stage of this wine.

Notes
2023 is widely considered one of the tougher vintages in recent years for apples in the mountains of Virginia given the severity of frosts in both April and May. What local fruit that survived was mostly found at higher elevation, often at 3000’ or more. That being said, many of our favorite seedling trees at Hobby Horse did not bear fruit and in turn, we relied more of some of the cultivated trees near the stables planted in the 1960s. A unidentified, late ripening crab apple certainly makes an imprint on this year’s blend. Upon opening the cider, a Brett-driven aroma quickly gives way to a fleshy crabapple bouquet, marrying with it savoriness and sweet, pastry dough. The pallet is explosive, packed with density and flavor, showing a great balance of fruit and leathery tannin tones. 

162 Bottles Produced, Alc. 7.24% by Volume, 750ml