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Tideview Cider wins at international competition
May 4, 2011 By Fruit & Vegetable
May 4, 2011, Greenwich,
NS – Tideview Cider won four medals at the Great Lakes Cider and Perry
Competition held in Grand Rapids, Mich., in April. This competition is the
largest of its kind in North America and the second largest in the
English-speaking world.
May 4, 2011, Greenwich,
NS – Tideview Cider won four medals at the Great Lakes Cider and Perry
Competition held in Grand Rapids, Mich., in April. This competition is the
largest of its kind in North America and the second largest in the
English-speaking world.
The big winner was
Tideview Heritage Dry Cider 2007. This classic dry cider was honoured with both
a gold medal for Best North American Style Cider and an honourable mention for
Best of Show. That’s an incredible honour according to Tideview’s cider-maker,
John Brett.
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“We were one of two
ciders selected for a Best of Show honours, out of a field of 130 entrants in
that category,” he said.
Other Tideview awards
include a silver medal for Heritage SemiDry 2008, and a bronze medal for the
Raspberry Cider 2008.
The Great Lakes Cider
and Perry Competition is open to all apple and pear fermentation beverages.
Brett emphasizes that “Cider” and “Perry” are alcoholic beverages made by
fermenting apple or pear juice. There are 19 categories and three divisions,
two commercial and one noncommercial. Entries came from 17 U.S. states and
three Canadian provinces, as well as producers in the English counties of
Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Dorset and Suffolk.
“Our goal is to produce
fine ciders and hopefully, in the process, revive the strong cider-making
tradition that existed in Nova Scotia from the 17th through the 19th
century,” says Brett. “Most people wouldn’t know that the Acadian
settlers planted apple orchards in the 17th century so they could
make hard ciders – which makes our cider tradition one of the oldest on the
continent.
“In other parts of the
world where cider is popular there isn’t any confusion,” Brett explains. “Cider
is an alcoholic beverage, like wine. But here in North America, we often use
cider to refer to sweet, unfermented apple juice … sometimes when we sample our
ciders at special events or the farm market it takes people by surprise.”
Tideview Cider is now in
its sixth year of commercial operation and is a partnership between Brett Films
Ltd. of Halifax, and Noggins Corner Farm of Greenwich. The two partners are
John Brett and Andrew Bishop. All of the special cider apples and other fruit
is grown at Noggins Corner Farm or by neighbouring farms. The farm is located
on the shores of the Minas Basin at the head of the Bay of Fundy, between
Wolfville and New Minas.
“There’s been a big revival
of interest in ciders over the past ten years,” Brett says. “With lots of small
cideries like us springing up around the continent … we hope it’s the start of
something big. It’s such a great beverage. Not as alcoholic as wine and not as
starchy as beer. It can have some sweetness or be very dry. And it pairs
beautifully with seafood and poultry and pork, so it’s a perfect accompaniment
for the local ingredients we use here in the Maritimes.”
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