Newton Court Golden Blush Cider

Time to move back to something real and familiar... a cider from Newton Court. And, thankfully, a medium dry, traditionally crafted and sparkling cider at that. And with 6.2% alcohol I can settle that this is all good and proper.

I have, in fact, met Newton Court cider before now... not that they would really know (even if they read this). Being a Herefordshire based company - Leominster, they fit into the 'nice cider people' category... relaxed, comfortable with their cider and practices. What is not to like so far! I like the nice people in cider... if you follow facebook and twitter, cider can get quite testy now and again. With people who are comfortable in their skin, I suspect they are still passionate - but, being happy in their own opinion, are happy to let others rant and rage against the machine.

OK, that over - I am dying to get this bottle open and try it out. I have season 2 of Luther queued up and nothing else that needs my attention. One of those rare moments, so lets get on with it!

It is nicely carbonated and bright in the bottle. quite bright in fact - I suspect this has been cleared and carbonated at bottling. Nothing wrong with that - I am finding that a bit of this isn't so bad these days. Mind you, if it's been overdone it could be a problem. It is golden and inviting.

The smell I am getting is heavily bittersweet - is that Yarlington Mill I can detect as being the dominant? Sure enough, it is there in the flavour too - very pleasant - not a single variety by any means - there is some acid in here; in the background, but it is there and it offsets the drying. The sweetening is sensible too - not too much. There is a tangy tone at the back of the palate which is interesting - this drink feels alive. A slight heaviness of farmhouse at the beginning and a tang at the end. Lovely.

The aftertaste is long. Quite drying too... in fact it has made me stop and consider it - which quite a few recently have failed to do! Very nice - I feel that I deserve something like this, having most recently ploughed my way through Koppabergs!!

I mean, apologies for mentioning it in the same post as a good cider, but how can anyone compare that with this? How can Koppaberg be called a cider against this? Sure, Koppaberg drinkers would hate this - far to intense, lively and strong (flavour as well as alcohol). They wouldn't be able to treat it like an alcopop. Surely there are beers with more in common with this than that Swedish stuff!

Oh well... at least I have the rest of the bottle of Newtons Court I can sit back and enjoy without thinking about the 'troubles' of cider in the UK. And served up with a nice bit of gruesomeness... lovely.

Golden Blush earns a silver apple with a score of 87/100.

Newtons Court In Bottle Fermented Cider

Weighing in at a (what I believe to be) perfect 6.5% is the next Herefordshire cider for me to try, from another artisan producer, Newton Court Cidery.

Cidery. I have a conversation last night with some friends who had visited some French 'cideries' and who wanted to know if it was the same in the UK. "No", I said. Well, I am a fool. Here is the term, alive and kicking. Is it a proper word in English though? Oh, who cares! Yes, I like to think it is (although it does sound a little odd!)

I am a little surprised to find an In bottle fermented cider in a standard beer/cider bottle. I guess the pressure must have been alleviated somehow or it will definitely have popped by now. And at 6.5% its gone through most of its fermentation (i.e. the sugar has pretty much all turned to alcohol).

I will have to look more into this - I thought that in bottle fermentation created a more fizzy, champagne style cider... but then it could just be more like bottle conditioning, where a cider is allowed to finish its fermentation in the bottle.

It certainly pours fizzy, and is a mellow golden colour with a nice tangy bittersweet cider smell to it. It is hazy too, which just shouts 'natural' to me!

To taste, it is a fairly straightforward west country/Herefordshire cider... although to put that into its perspective, its a really good west country cider. It feels a little sweeter than medium dry though - it must be because the tannins are very understated and there is a good measure of acid to balance things out.

Balanced is a word that I would use about this one. The sweetness and tannins linger together through a fairly long aftertaste. Mind you, I didn't leave it for too long before my next gulp!!!

Overall, I really like this cider. Whilst its competing with some of the best cider in the country, being in Herefordshire, it holds its own and deserves its silver apple with a score of 86/100