Results of the 2018 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)

Ciders

Category overview by judge and panel leader John Szabo, MS

To say that cider is exploding in Canada falls short of hyperbolic – the market is booming. At last count there are some 150 cider producers across the country (though that number is likely out of date), with Québec boasting over 1/3 of those, followed closely by Ontario, then BC, and a respectable contribution from Nova Scotia and a smattering from other maritime provinces and the prairies. Cider sales seem to be outpacing production, led by so-called craft cider – you know, the genuine, hand-crafted stuff made from pure, real apples and pears, the equivalent of craft beer. According to OntarioCraftCider.com, for example, LCBO sales of craft ciders grew 54 percent in 2015-2016, far faster than industrial brands. That’s a far cry from the not-too-distant days when a couple of multinationals owned the taps and shelves.

Though often lumped in with beer, cider is much closer to wine. It’s made from fermented fruit, after all (apples and/or pears, the latter often called “perry”), and the very best undergo a secondary fermentation in bottle, just like traditional method sparkling wine. Indeed, there are more than a handful of Canadian wineries who have turned their attention to cider production to capitalize on the growing market, the abundance of apples available in Canada, and to faster amortize the expensive equipment they’ve already purchased for wine production, which sits around unused for much of the year.

And like wine, cider comes in all shapes and sizes. The variety(ies) of apples and pears used are of course critical to the final product. True cider apples are quite rare; most Canadian cider is made from apples that do double duty as eating fruit as well. The genuine articles are often inedible, tannic, acidic, and bitter-sweet (and much more expensive thanks to their rarity), but delicious when fermented. But the right table apples can produce more than respectable beverages as well.

A quick survey of the most popular brands shows the public’s preference for sweetness; the average cider seems to have about 35 grams/liter of residual sugar, which, as with wine, goes a long way to obscure off-flavours, or distract you from the fact that the beverage is little more than artificially carbonated apple juice with some alcohol.

Unsurprisingly, the top-scoring ciders this year were largely dry, made from pure apples (and/or pears), with the tannic grip that separates the good from the very best, and natural carbonation from fermentation in bottle, like Southbrook’s silver medal-winning Wild Ferment cider. The medal-winning off-dry and sweet ciders manage the sweet-tart balance admirably, while also delivering much higher complexity than the average commercial example.

2018’s Best Cider of the Year highlights another facet of the category, the (perfectly acceptable) addition of other fruits. Twisted Hills Midnight Cherry cider earned the highest score at the awards, made from organically-grown, genuine cider apples and cherries from the Similkameen Valley of British Columbia, Canada’s capital of organic agricultural. In all, medals were awarded to ciders from BC, Nova Scotia Ontario and Québec, underscoring the pan-national potential for cider and the growing strength of the category.

Twisted Hills Craft Cider Midnight Cherry, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia

Chain Yard Ginxberry, Nova Scotia
Domaine Lafrance 2016 Cidre Mousseux Rose, Quebec
Growers Cider Co. Clementine Pineapple, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Lonetree Cider Apple Ginger Cider, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Naramata Cider Compony Cider Maker’s Select, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Noggins Corner Farm Raspberry Bramble, Nova Scotia
Southbrook 2017 Wild Ferment Cider, Ontario
The BX Press Lavender Raspberry, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
The BX Press The Hostler, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Twisted Hills Craft Cider Glo Haven, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia

Chain Yard Rhubee Cyser, Nova Scotia
Buddy’s Original Craft Cider, Nova Scotia
Lonetree Cider Apple Cranberry, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Vergers Petit et Fils Le St-Hil Aux Poires, Quebec