Today in the orchard
I spent all day in our Finley Lane orchard pruning apple trees and clearing brush from along the fences. Laura Sieger stopped by the morning to cut more scionwood for Fedco. Cammy joined me for the afternoon. Jared Carr made an appearance late in the day bringing us scionwood from one of his discoveries, “Western Maine White.” He had recently written to me about the apple, and it sounded like one that required a slot in our research orchard!
Four Maine cider makers (and support staff), from left: Gene Cartwright, Zack Kaiser, Jared Carr and Angus Deighan, 2023
“The juice made from this apple is a beautiful mahogany and decently high in sugar with plenty of astringent and bitter tannin. When fermented it tastes like a wonderful English bittersweet cider that someone unfortunately put their cigarettes out in. When used in a blend it still isn’t pleasant. So I left the disappointing varietal bottles alone in the corner until I could decide what to do with them. 5 years later I had purchased my home and was cleaning the basement that was to become the cidery with my wife and thought we deserved a celebratory drink! I grabbed one of these old bottles with low expectations. I poured it into my favorite crystal snifter and when I took that first sip it was now like a wonderfully aged English bittersweet cider enjoyed in a pleasant cigar bar, or perhaps the notes of peat moss. Time had been wonderful to this bottle and I contemplated how I might recreate this on a larger scale! Just then my wife, who was still working, was sweeping in reverse and knocked my favorite glass with my favorite drink off of the table and onto the concrete floor. After my sadness had passed I got back to work, cleaning the rest of the room leaving that spot for last so I could at least enjoy the aroma for as long as possible.
Now after growing this tree for years, it isn’t particularly precocious or disease resistant. The fruit is actually mostly red when it gets adequate sunlight (I’m not going to change the name). Ultimately I don’t think it has commercial potential, but I still grow 3 trees that someday will produce cider to share with friends and family and will probably be the beverage that is poured at my funeral.”
