A first for me personally to review, a grape and apple coferment, this one coming from Wild Arc Farm in New York State.
**Wild Arc “Sweetheart”:** An 100% Northern Spy apple and red grape (Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Gamay) coferment, aged on red grape must for two months, pressed into neutral French oak for 4 months, and bottled with local honey to kickstart the second fermentation in bottle. Purchased from Brooklyn Wine Exchange in Brooklyn.
Aromas of mango skins, blood orange, papaya, and crushed berries like strawberry and cherry chunks thrown into the mix, a hefty amount of tropical character with some slight yeastiness to it. There’s a refreshing acid that cleanses the palate for more glasses to be consumed here. In terms of flavor, we’re talking crunchy apples, limeade, macerated red berries, a slightly grassiness to it as well. It’s incredibly gentle and fresh at its low 7% ABV, just a pleasure driven product but do not be fooled, this is still a richer, dense style of wine. No perceptible sweetness here either, there is a good extraction of tannin to balance that out along with the acidity.
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Still got a good amount still in the bottle left but this is a yummy wine for sure. I love the grapes used for this project as they had been used for wines, then used for piquettes before making their way here for this project. The cider provides a clean and lithe foundation for the red berry character of the grapes along with the slight herbalness of the Cab Franc. This was an interesting project and I’d be happy to buy more experimental stuff like this from Wild Arc Farm.
tbonebk
Great note, thanks! This is always a fun one, but we really like how this year’s turned out. If you can find our canned cider from the spring release, it’s the same Northern Spy cider base, but aged on Callery Pears for a different tannin and fruit addition. They’re like cidery cousins.
2 Comments
A first for me personally to review, a grape and apple coferment, this one coming from Wild Arc Farm in New York State.
**Wild Arc “Sweetheart”:** An 100% Northern Spy apple and red grape (Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Gamay) coferment, aged on red grape must for two months, pressed into neutral French oak for 4 months, and bottled with local honey to kickstart the second fermentation in bottle. Purchased from Brooklyn Wine Exchange in Brooklyn.
Aromas of mango skins, blood orange, papaya, and crushed berries like strawberry and cherry chunks thrown into the mix, a hefty amount of tropical character with some slight yeastiness to it. There’s a refreshing acid that cleanses the palate for more glasses to be consumed here. In terms of flavor, we’re talking crunchy apples, limeade, macerated red berries, a slightly grassiness to it as well. It’s incredibly gentle and fresh at its low 7% ABV, just a pleasure driven product but do not be fooled, this is still a richer, dense style of wine. No perceptible sweetness here either, there is a good extraction of tannin to balance that out along with the acidity.
—
Still got a good amount still in the bottle left but this is a yummy wine for sure. I love the grapes used for this project as they had been used for wines, then used for piquettes before making their way here for this project. The cider provides a clean and lithe foundation for the red berry character of the grapes along with the slight herbalness of the Cab Franc. This was an interesting project and I’d be happy to buy more experimental stuff like this from Wild Arc Farm.
Great note, thanks! This is always a fun one, but we really like how this year’s turned out. If you can find our canned cider from the spring release, it’s the same Northern Spy cider base, but aged on Callery Pears for a different tannin and fruit addition. They’re like cidery cousins.