Cider Is Wine tasting No need to concentrate

Indies spot the opportunity for a fresh sales opportunity

Alistair Morrell, founder and chief cider officer of Cider Is Wine, delivers something of a bombshell as he leads his second online masterclass for Wine Merchant readers.

“We don’t talk about cider,” he declares. “If you go to somebody and say, ‘try this cider’, the likely response is going to be ‘no thanks, I used to drink it when I was 16’ or ‘I got drunk on it at a festival once and I’ve never gone back to it’.

“So we don’t talk about cider. We talk about wine: wine from apples, pears and other fruits. ‘Try this wine’ is a credible, genuine and justifiable position to take because the English dictionary definition of wine is an alcoholic drink fermented from any fruit or flower. So that’s how we tend to approach it.”

Cider Is Wine is on a mission to promote ciders, perries and fruit wines that are made from 100% fresh-pressed juice, never from concentrate. Its range comes from various countries across the globe, in addition to the UK. Each carries a hologram logo.

“In a typical 75cl bottle of cider made from concentrate – and most are, in the UK – you have the juice of less than one apple,” Morrell says. “In our bottles, it will take at least seven apples.” In fact, the number is more like 10 or 13 in some examples we try. “One of the ice ciders I know takes four kilos of apples, so probably nearly 40 apples per bottle,” Morrell reports.

Cider Is Wine now distributes its products to nearly 100 independents in the UK, through Awin Barratt Siegel. How difficult has it been to persuade people to pay a premium for a product usually associated with £3 to £8 price points?

“Not very difficult, is the answer,” says Morrell.

“As I go to independents around the UK I find that, increasingly, people want to talk about something new. People want to find something new. And the ciders offer that horizon; they offer the opportunity to open up a very different conversation with your customer.

“One of the pleasing parts about this is that it appeals to Gen Z and Millennial customers. If you see any food and drink research today, it says that younger consumers want the real deal. They will want products to be artisan. They want things to be authentic and provenance-led.

“Younger customers also don’t see defined boundaries in the way that perhaps people of my generation and older did: beer, cider, wine and spirits. They see them meshing, and, as a result, they’re repertoire drinkers. They’ll drink certain things in certain places, or with certain foods or with certain friends or in certain social situations.

“So there is a fantastic opportunity to open up a new conversation with younger consumers. And when we weigh in the fact that these are half the alcohol of a bottle of wine, on average, then it’s a different proposition, and it fits with their idea of less but better.”

Tinston Gateway 2019

“This is made by Liam Tinston, who’s both a cidermaker and a winemaker. Liam makes small-batch ciders from dessert apples, typically Bramley, Cox, Worcester and Russet.

“This was IWSC gold medal winner in 2022. It’s methode traditionelle, so it’s aged for at least 18 months in bottle. It’s very light and sophisticated and that’s because it’s made from dessert apples.

“It’s an excellent alternative to Champagne. The mousse is really quite lively, as you would expect with Champagne, as there is the same pressure. A nice light golden colour. Absolutely brut dry.”

Gospel Green Rosé 2017

This Sussex estate took its inspiration from Champagne when it was created in 1990.

“We very much regard this as the mainstay of our methode traditionelle range,” says Morrell.

“It has about 8g per litre of residual sugar. This rosé has a dosage of Pinot Noir, just to give it that sort of pink tinge. It’s fermented with yeasts that are sourced from the Institut Oenologique de Champagne.

“It’s a great alternative to Champagne, Prosecco and Cava. It’s dry and delicate and something really completely different with an added benefit, of course: the ABV. This is just 8.4% alcohol.”

English Wine Project Queen of the Orchard

Made in Derbyshire from Spartan and Dabinett apples, this cider spends time in Burgundian oak and bourbon barrels, where it undergoes malolactic fermentation. Secondary fermentation in the bottle creates a gentle col fondo fizz with natural cloudiness.

“These are cidermaking apples which by their very nature are more acidic, more tannic,” says Morrell.

“This has got an assertive nose. You get riper fruit, and a raisiny effect.

“On the palate, again, much