Once Upon A Tree Putley Gold

 

And now for another medium cider. Not exactly my tipple of choice but I guess in the middle of winter you get what you can (this bottle was bought in the middle of January 2012).

I have plenty of time for Once Upon a Tree. Apart from being in the cider makers mold of 'nice people', they strive to produce something that is full juice and also different - Simon Day is a wine maker. Well, I guess the phrase is more accurately used to be a wine maker (though I am sure this could be wrong and doesn't really matter in any case). What does this do for the cider though? Well, he approached cider making in a very similar way. I have always found that his ciders are fairly vineous (not a bad thing) and still. They are also always very smartly presented in 750ml bottles with clean labels that appear very similar in style to wine labels. I ought to note that making cider in this way does not detract from their high juice, heritage status (in my mind). It is usually of extremely high quality and is made with a firm eye on the heritage roots.

On pouring a glass of this cider, its a fairly light golden colour, which is odd considering the medium tannin eminating from the cider. Lots of tannin so often means a darker golden cider (although maybe I have just tried too many ciders recently!!)

And what to say about the taste? Smoooooooth! Nice tannin to it with a good dose of bittersharp to counter and balance things out. Whilst it is a medium,  you don't get that so up front or in the face as it is done very sensitively. The sweetness is there, but it doesn't take over the taste at all and almost feels like a medium dry in the mouth. Very well done.

There is some wonderful fruit in here. Looking at the label Putley Gold is produced from a small number of varieties. Generally, my assumption has always been the more the merrier, although I cannot deny that this cider is very well created - measured tannin and acid. And they say great cider making is all in the blending.

The aftertaste is is a little vineous and does go onto a little bit thin. That is not really a terrible thing though - and I am really picking hairs to be honest. It is a lingering taste and not just sweetness too.

A beautifully made cider - well blended and cared for. This really does put the crafted into crafted cider. A deserved gold apple for Putley Gold with a score of 90/100.