ORCHARD NECTAR
Sbetween orchards of apple trees; their leaves burnished with the palette of a sunset. Branches overhang to form canopied tunnels of gold; boughs heavy with the weight of swelling fruit. Some riper specimens have fallen to the ground, littering the grass with ribbons of colour in shades of vibrant green, purplish-black, speckled yellow and scarlet.
On a crisp day in autumn, fallen apples are gathered and taken to the yard at Pass Vale Farm, where they are piled up in large mountains, ready for the start of the pressing season. This farm is home to the Somerset Cider Brandy Company and Burrow Hill Cider. In addition to making farmhouse cider and bottle-fermented cider, the company is involved in cider brandy production. It led the revival in the art of distilling traditional cider brandy, which has since inspired a revolution of traditional distillers in the UK.
Nestled in the shadow of Burrow Hill, with its views over the Somerset Levels to Glastonbury Tor, the farm sits among 200 acres of cider apple orchards.
“The farm has been making cider in some shape or form for 250 years, but the company was established in 1987 by my father, Julian Temperley,” says manager Matilda Temperley.
Somerset has a rich heritage of cider making, and written records of cider brandy date back as far as 1676; the term cited in Vinetum Britannicum: Or A Treatise of Cider, by John Worlidge. In 1984, Julian began the process of reintroducing apple brandy to the UK. “By 1989, his pioneering spirit had led to HM Revenue and Customs granting the first full cider distilling licence in recorded history,” explains Matilda. “We have been making cider brandy ever since.”
Once harvested, the apple varieties are blended, then pressed to ensure the correct balance of sugars, acidity and tannins is achieved. The juice is then fermented in 170-year old oak vats, which can take between three and five months. Half of the cider is bottled and sold, while the rest is distilled in copper stills. The resulting spirit is known as eau de vie, or ‘water of life’; a clear, colourless fruit brandy that is trickled into oak casks and left to mature into cider brandy.
The barrels are carefully selected for the colour and flavours they impart as the brandy ages. “Our ethos is very much ‘slow food’, and many of our products take 10 or more years to make. If you add in the growing of the trees, it can be up to a 35-year
stock rotation. We are just about to plant some oak trees for use as barrels in 140 years, so we are looking at the long term.”
Burrow Hill is recognised as one of the three unrivalled vintage areas for growing cider apples, due to its climate and optimum soil conditions, for varieties such as Stoke Red, Dabinett, Kingston Black, Harry Masters and Yarlington Mill. Delivered nationwide, every bottle can be traced back to its orchard of origin. “Our products are all made purely from fruit grown on the farm. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do here, so we don’t use nitrogen or insecticides. We also keep bees, and we use the sheep as mowers,” Matilda adds.
Visitors can take a guided tour of the distillery and cider house or walk the orchard trail, where trees are laden with fruit in October. From here, a short climb reaches the summit of Burrow Hill, with its single sycamore tree standing sentinel.
As the autumnal view unfolds over ancient orchards and rolling countryside, the county’s proud cider making and apple growing heritage becomes all the more prominent. “It is totally magical,” says Matilda.
nThe Somerset Cider Brandy Company,
Pass Vale Farm, Burrow Hill, Kingsbury Episcopi, Martock, Somerset, TA12 6BU
Tel 01460 240782. www.somersetciderbrandy.com