This Farm Cider is made from fruit grown in our high elevation, regenerative orchard at Oakley Farm, located in Bath County, Virginia.

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
100% Virginia Hewe’s Crab

Vinification
Fruit was harvested on the mornings of August 26th and 28th. All fruit was ground and pressed directly to a neutral French oak barrel a week later. An uninoculated, native primary fermentation carried out over the fall and the barrel was briefly stirred to encourage a natural malolactic fermentation. The cider sat undisturbed for nearly a year before it was racked off its gross/fine lees in August of 2023 and bottled traditional method sparkling. Bottles were rested for four months prior to being hand disgorged in December of 2023. No additions of SO2 were made at any stage of this wine.

Notes
Virginia Hewe’s has had our attention from day one. When it came time to plant an orchard at Oakley in 2019, we elected to put over 300 trees of Hewe’s in the ground, the most of any one varietal. Small quantities of VHC led the blend in our first farm cider in 2021, giving us great hope for a single varietal bottling in the future. Now having the opportunity to showcase this incredible Virginia cider apple all to its own has been a revelation. Although VHC grows well in all parts of the state, we firmly believe it shines best at elevation and grown on limestone. In the glass it immediately dazzles with engaging acid and firm tannins. Zesty orange marmalade is hard to miss. But beyond all of this what jumps at us the most is its rocky minerality in both the nose and pallet. This bottling of VHC is far more serious than that of our Petite, a grown-up, sophisticated mountain gentlemen. Charming, thought provoking, and down right quaffable.

22 cases produced. 9.89% alc. by Volume, 750ml

Label artwork by Molly Reeder.

*Available for shipments in Virginia & Washington DC OR pick-up at Oakley Farm. Ship to other states here. Shipments may be delayed based on temperatures.