West County Cider Tremletts

Commercial Description:
First an explanation. Tremletts Bitter is a classic English bittersweet. It was high on the list of apples recommended to us by R. R. Williams at the Long Ashton Cider Research station in the early 1980’s. We found scion wood in the collection of cider varieties at the New York State Agricultural Research Station at Geneva, N.Y. We tried it, liked it, and have made a succession of plantings, the last in 2004. It makes a lovely cider, bringing notes of bright red fruit and tartness. Now tartness isn’t something you find in a bittersweet apple, and terroir doesn’t explain such a massive difference. Well informed sources say that not only does our Tremletts not look like its classic namesake, it doesn’t resemble any English cider apple that they know. Our guess is that it is really a seedling variety. But despite its obscure parentage, it makes a good cider and deserves cultivation, and a name. We call it Geneva Tremlett. The Tremlett this year is two thirds Tremlett, one third Baldwin, the opposite of our blending ratio in the past. To offset the marked acidity of the Tremlett we let it go through a partial malic-lactic fermentation. We bottled in December and it’s just opening up now in early March. The cider is smooth, with bright fruit on the finish. Good with food. One hundred and fourteen cases bottled.