Cornish cider brand is judged world’s best
THE owner of a small Cornish business making cider from a trailermounted press has said he is “astounded and still trying to get my head around it”, after winning the world’s best still cider award.
St Ives Cider’s Farmhouse still cider has won the ultimate prize at the World Cider Awards.
David Berwick, who runs the business with his wife, Kate, said: “We’re absolutely reeling from this news. It’s hard to believe that our tiny business, built on hard-working days and many sleepless nights, has achieved this recognition from industry judges. We will continue to make our ciders from 100% juice the hard way, the expensive way, the only way.”
David added that their farmhouse cider had faced competition from very good products from all over the world.
Raised on his parents’ vineyard in Suffolk, David worked in the wine industry but “chucked it all in” when he moved to Cornwall and realised there was a growing taste for cider. He started St Ives Cider with Kate in 2012 and combined his wine-making experience with traditional cider techniques to produce refined artisan ciders.
The result is a world beater which is made by David and Kate with the help of “long-suffering friends”. He said: “We decided quite early on not to take on the big guys or get in the supermarkets. We keep it small and work on the quality.”
Each harvest sees David tow a trailer-mounted press to a collection of orchards to press on site. This keeps food miles to an absolute minimum.
“We have found some rare varieties of apple trees and stunning forgotten orchards where this amazing fruit would otherwise go to waste,” he added.