Ledbury Cider and Perry Co., Wilces Cider

I am trying to keep Cider Pages broad based... in the last few reviews I have managed to cover Devon, Somerset, Hampshire, Sussex (ahem... perhaps somewhere in Belgium:-), Gloucestershire and even Normandy. But it always seems to come back to Herefordshire. I have spent a bit of time there in the last couple of months, and so its not surprising that I have a stack of them waiting for me to try.

Mind you, that could easily have said it always comes back to Somerset too... (realised I need to be fair to the Somerset makers too:-) In fact, heritage cider is made all over the UK.

Here we have a bottle from Ledbury, made on a farm bythe Wilce family. Your typical cider producer then? Not so much any more, but certainly this is the traditional cider making set up. This doesnt look like a rough cider either (in case you were thinking that traditional farmhouse cider = rough ol' vinegar!)

Ledbury is a very nice part of the world, tough not as big as its neighbour, Ross on Wye. Come to think of it I bought this bottle from Hay Wines in Ledbury - a veritable feast in ciderness in the middle of the town. Another great example of a shop that tries to stock local and traditional products.

Pouring with a fairly large fizz, this cider is very deep gold - in fact I would say it has a slight orange tint to it (Yarlington Mill?). It is bright and clear (yah-boo) - so a posh farmhouse cider then:-)

There is a stack of smell to it though, and it is all good. Not so much floral fruits, but cidery and leathery smell that comes from bittersweet fruit (I am sure there is a good measure of Yarlington in here... it is a popular cider apple you know!) The fizz is a bit persistent though.

And it tastes gorgeous. Moderate tannin and fruity, this is a bittersweet cider. Very little acid going on at all, although the sweetening brings the tannins under control to make is a rather well balanced cider. Sure, its not the most challenging of ciders but its all done, just... well. Actually, on reflection there is a touch of acid here - so it is much more a typical Herefordshire cider. Its all very mild and gentle though.

The aftertaste is long and cidery. It stays with you this one. The tannins, although gentle all the way through really have some legs on them. Its been sensitively sweetened so, although its a medium dry, it doesn't taste intrusively so. Just right for this level of bittersweet fruit.

I like this cider a lot. It scores a handsome 86/100 and earns a silver apple.