Staehly Farm Winery wins ‘Best Connecticut Producer’

EAST HADDAM — The Staehly Farm Winery Yankee Cider Co. cider earned awards during the 2022 New York International Cider Competition in March.

It earned the distinction of “Best Connecticut Producer” as well as a gold and several silver and bronze medal finishers, according to a press release. The contest included entries from across the region and various countries.

The “Best State Producer” title is awarded to the cidery from each particular state with the highest ranked cider, in this case, for the Yankee Cider Co. Captain Coit Blueberry Cider, which took a gold medal, the winery said.

Yankee Cider Co., a brand of Staehly Farm Winery, received a bronze medal for its Coconut Rum Barrel Aged Cider as well as its Devil's Hooves, a hopped cider named after local attraction Devil's Hopyard. One of its flagship ciders, Honeycrisp Blend, received a silver medal.

The Captain Coit Blueberry, a best-selling favorite, earned 95 points to receive a gold medal as “an extraordinary cider with superior character and style.”

This distinction is not the first time the ciders have garnered national acclaim: Yankee Cider's New England Dry placed Best of Connecticut and Best of New England in 2019 and its Washington's Admission Tart Cherry received the same distinctions in 2021 at the Eastern States Exposition Gold Cider & Perry Competitions.

Yankee Cider opened an independent tap room, the first farm cidery tap room in Connecticut, in late 2019, the statement said. It is open yearround with varying seasonal hours. For information, visit yankeeciders.com.

Ledyard Farmers Market / Contributed photo East Haddam Staehly Farm Winery owner Kevin Staehly, right, poses for a photograph at the Ledyard Farmers Market.