Winery takes dip in cider trading
GEELONG’S industrial winemaking kings at Idyll Wine are poised to squeeze into the fast-growing Australian cider market this summer.
The recent launch of Miss Seed Apple Cider means the complete range of Monkeyshines cider is now on the shelves at Liquorland, First Choice Liquor and Vintage Cellars.
Based in the Moorabool Valley, Idyll Wine produces more than 20 million bottles of wine a year and its executive director and co-owner of Monkeyshines Brew Co, Andrew Byers, said the its winemaking experience helped with the creation of the cider range.
“We have tried to reimagine cider from a winemaker’s point of view by retaining as much of the fruit character as possible, balancing out the palate so it’s not too sharp, not too sweet, and to make something that we would drink and find eminently enjoyable,” Mr Byers said.
All made from Australian apple juice, the Fat Pixie Hard Apple Cider is crisp and full of flavour, the Scrumpy is a cloudy cider which is less sweet than most in the market while Miss Seed Apple Cider is slightly on the dry side.
The original recipes for Monkeyshines were created, tested and brought to production in Idyll’s Moorabool Valley premises.
Mr Byers said early sales of the ciders which launched nationally in August were encouraging but their performance over summer would provide the real gauge.
“We are canning some of the products — Monkeyshines and Fat Pixie — using an external contract packer with production taking place two weeks per month,” he said.
“We are taking possession of a new canning line that will be capable of significantly increasing our production early in the New Year.
“This line is significantly faster than what we are currently using and has a number of technological advances that will enable us to have greater control over product quality and consistency.
“The Ms Seed bucks the trend as we are bottling this on the existing bottling line and while the label (clear with a hole cut out!) has caused us some heartache and technical challenges, has not required any further investment in the line.”