Wildflower Brewing & Blending Roadcider (2023): Orange

Roadcider is an ongoing, annual, project between Wildflower and fellow fermentation wizard, Lucien Alperstein. They have been creating a variation of the Roadcider since 2018, with this 2023 vintage being the first of the series to be made with deliberately planted apples (vs. foraged). Made with Kingston Black, Somerset, Redstreak, Dabinett, Golden Harvey, Bramley, Yarlington Mill and Huonville Crab apples.

Natural fermentation kicked off with a pie de cuvee (the winemaking equivalent of a sourdough starter) and finished completely dry. Secondary fermentation in bottle has given it a healthy level of carbonation, which plays nicely with the lightly drying, tannic finish. There’s no sweetness, and though there is definitively some apple character shining through, there’s a lot of complexity and depth here too.