Cider Is Wine Tasting at The Fleetville Larder - Flagship Wines
Flagship Wines - ‘Cider Is Wine’ pairing evening
at The Fleetville Larder
We recently enjoyed a wonderful Cider tasting evening co-hosted by Alistair of Cider Is Wine and our member Flagship Wines at The Fleetville Larder in St. Albans, Hertfordshire.
Alistair Morrell from ‘Cideriswine’ offered tasting examples from around the world paired with some of Ed’s delicious cheeses and charcuterie which were all absolutely delicious.
Cider is a drink that like wine can be enjoyed with food. The Ciders we tasted were 100% juice (not from concentrate) from apples and pears etc, typically with half the alcohol content of wine.
The evening was extremely informative and we tasted some exceptional examples of Ciders (see below) ranging in taste from dry to sweet.
1. Gospel Green Brut 2016 (Hampshire)
Tasting Notes: Aromatics of elderflower, brioche and green apples. Crisp with a light acidity and a slight earthiness. Smooth with a rounded finish and a long lasting mousse.
Food Pairing: Poultry and white meat, seafood and pasta, cheeses and desserts.
2. Guzman Riestra Sidra Brut 2020 (Spain)
Tasting Notes: A scrupulous selection of ciders, golden yellow in colour, strongly aromatic, tasty and fresh, with hints of pear and banana both on the nose and palate, with sweet mingàn apple notes.
Food Pairing: Poultry and white meat, seafood and pasta, cheeses and desserts.
3. Berryland Perry Brut 2019 (Ukraine)
Tasting Notes: Delicate pale lemon in appearance, a light sparkle, and unfiltered showing its natural provenance, a lovely delicate pear nose; soft, gentle tannins and a touch of natural sweetness.
Food Pairing: Goats cheese salad, lightly dressed with a delicate citrus dressing.
4. Templars Choice Late Harvest 2019 (Normandy)
Tasting Notes: Made from apples picked later in season, typically around Christmas. The extra depth and richness is counterbalanced by a crisp backbone of acidity, fine tannins, and a natural, soft underlying sweetness.
Food Pairing: The pure juice of this sweet cider is perfect with desserts using fresh figs, dessert apples, bananas, or with cheesecakes, fruit charlottes and myriad of other sweet desserts, but also with pâté entrées and crudités for example.
5. Brännland Claim 2018 (Sweden)
Tasting Notes: Pale golden, straw-coloured in appearance with a fragrant and aromatic nose with notes of tea, honeysuckle, strawberry & white flowers. Golden kiwi and white grapes on the palate, with pomegranate and rose petals on the long, pleasing juicy finish and a sweet rosé or blush wine character.
Food Pairing: From the classic repertoire - apple desserts, gooseberry fool with home-made shortbread, and summer fruit puddings to cheese - lighter blue cheeses such as Gorgonzola, and soft-medium goats cheese. Alternatively - try with salt, pepper & chilli chicken pieces, paneer tikka, Thai prawns with a banana and cucumber salsa.
6. Once Upon A Tree - The Wonder Pear Ice 2016 (Herefordshire)
Tasting Notes: Very powerful, big palete with intense flavours of apricot, quince and a hint of soft caramel. Sweetness, acidity and a long, soft finish, perfectly balanced.
Food Pairing: Enjoy as an aperitif, partner with pâté, blue cheese or chocolate desserts.
Keep an eye out our events page for their upcoming events as we couldn’t recommend the evening enough. If you would like to try any of these Ciders they are all available at Flagship Wines.
Our favourite ciders of the night were the Guzman Riestra Sidra Brut and the Berryland from Ukraine. These were paired perfectly with our two favourite cheeses of the evening which were Sharpham Ticklemore - Goats Cheese and Camembert Calvados.
“Once tasted not forgotten. It is a fantastic experience – Oz Clark thinks so too!”