Yes, it’s that time of year my friends – though in this year’s case ‘that time of year’ has come a month late. Of course every month is perry month here on Cider Review, but this month is Perry Month with capital letters – the month we focus entirely on the fermented pear, and particularly the fermented perry pear.

Traditionally, as longer-standing readers will know, we hold this in September. This year, for entirely self-motivated reasons on my part we have moved it to October. Why? Because CAMRA have changed their annual October Cider Month to a Perry Month, and they have done this in part to launch and promote a kickstarter for the book I have written – Perry: A Drinker’s Guide.

At the time of this article being published, the kickstarter hasn’t yet launched. Rest assured you’ll hear me going on about it until I’m blue in the face when it does. I won’t go on about it too much for now, except to say that the support from all of our readers so far has been both massive and massively appreciated, that I can’t wait for you to be able to pre-order copies once the kickstarter launches (probably tomorrow) and that you’ll find many of the details about the book and the campaign on this page here.

Anyway. This isn’t (just) going to be an Adam’s book advertorial month. As every year, we hope to bring you a veritable plethora of perry-based content to celebrate this most secretive and wonderful of drinks. Last year we interviewed some twenty-odd individual perrymakers; this year I thought I’d focus on their perries themselves. 

I’m going to be all over the place this month; I’m in Herefordshire for a week, partly to do some good honest toil at Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry, and partially to get thoroughly involved with a number of Applefest events. It’s the second iteration of this fortnight-long festival in Hereford. We learned all about it in our conversation with Paul Stevens, former Mayor of Hereford, last year, and this year it too is going to have a real perry focus. 

I’ll be chipping in with a blending workshop Albert’s leading at Ross-on-Wye on the 11th, leading a Herefordshire Perry Masterclass at the Jam Factory in Hereford on the 12th, taking part in a world-first Perry Day led by the Three Counties Cider and Perry Association on Friday 13th (the most appropriate day to launch anything perry-related I reckon) and, most unbelievably to me, will be speaking at the Applefest banquet that closes on the 14th. All of which to say – a ton of exciting stuff, and I’d love to see any of you who can make it to any of it. (If you tick off all four I’ll stand you a perry).

On top of which I’ve a perry tasting today at the Castle Tap, my favourite pub in my adopted home town of Reading, I’ll be leading another tasting at the incomparable Hop Inn in Hornchurch on October 25th and somewhere amidst all that I’ll be doing my normal work, directing a play and spending four days talking about whisky and rum in terrible GCSE French in Paris.

So that’s my quite long-winded excuse for probably not writing as many long-form articles on perry as I’d like this month. But last year was such a celebration – our all-time record month by visitors – and I’m damned if we’re not going to do things properly this month as well! So every day that there isn’t a big set-piece kind of article lined up, I’ll be slotting in a review and a bit of a chat of at least one perry.

To cover as much ground as possible, there’ll be no repeat producers. Occasionally there’ll be a comparison of a couple of perries from the same source, but on the whole I’ll be breaking the site’s usual rule and it’ll just be one at a time (there’s only so much perry I can persuade friends to come round and finish on my behalf).

At the time of writing I’m not entirely convinced I have a sufficient number of perries from a sufficient number of producers that I haven’t already written up somewhere or other, but I dare say I’ll top up the tasting notebook when I’m over in Herefordshire and elsewhere, so let’s give it a go.

And I can’t think of a better way to start than with this one.

Perry lovers and regular readers of these pages don’t need much introduction to Bartestree. Dave and Fiona Matthews have been two of the best makers in the UK for well over two decades now. Their creations have been praised repeatedly in these pages, never more so than in this beautiful paean penned by Chris shortly after Cider Review began. Looking back through my notes I’ve reviewed eight of their perries here, tasted goodness knows how many besides, and can’t think of a single one I didn’t enjoy. A few of them represent some of the best perries I’ve had the privilege of tasting and all were marked by Dave and Fiona’s uncanny ability to wring astonishing levels of sheer juiciness and roundness of fruit from seemingly any variety. Bartestree’s have always been the sort of perries you could pour for anyone; never challenging or monolithic; none that I can think of as crowd-splitters looking back. All were, in the best possible way, accessible pleasures to drink. And if those are terms sometimes associated with simple, easygoing drinks, don’t be deceived – they were also amongst the most complex, expressive and meticulously precise.

Aside from their stellar work in making perry itself, Dave and Fiona’s impact on the broader perry (and cider) scene is hard to overstate. Back when they made Seidr Dai, for instance, Dave was the driving force behind the formation of the Welsh Perry and Cider Association, and was namechecked by everyone I spoke to about Welsh perry for the book. Fiona was a founding member and committee member of the inspirational Cider Women, interviewed here by Helen, whilst among any number of other commitments, they’ve also organised the peer-judged (and, for the last two years, also Adam-and-Caroline-judged) Yew Tree Cider Trials with Albert.

So I was very sorry to hear, a few months ago, that after so many years of cider and perry excellence and giving so much to the UK cider and perry community, Dave and Fiona have decided to call time on cider and perry making – at least on a commercial basis. Their handiwork will be missed immensely by all who tasted it; they leave enormous shoes to fill and there is a worry nagging away in the back of my mind as to who will step up to fill them. But that’s perhaps a worry to unpack on another day. In the meantime, and whilst you are still able to, I suggest that you fill up on as many of Dave and Fiona’s creations as you can possibly find.

This one – Ray Williams Tribute Perry 2022 – caught my eye in particular. Ray Williams formerly worked at the Long Ashton Research Station (LARS); the now closed centre of research into (amongst other things) cider and perry. (How I wish it was still up and running). Ray was acknowledged as perhaps the foremost expert on the perry pears of the Three Counties, undertaking astonishing levels of investigation and responsible for most of the content of Perry Pears, edited and published by his bosses, Leonard Luckwill and Alfred Pollard. I can’t remember where or when, but Tom Oliver said once that when Ray passed away, vast quantities of perry knowledge were lost.

Led by Ray, LARS recommended fourteen perry pear varieties as particularly suitable for planting around the Three Counties. And according to the back label of this tribute perry, he used two of them (Winnal’s Longdon and Hendre Huffcap) to win the Long Ashton Perry Competition. Bartestree, of course, have significant form in these pages with Hendre Huffcap, that most apricoty of pears, whilst vibrant, tropical, green Winnal’s Longdon has rapidly become a favourite of mine. High hopes then.

Naturally sparkling (pét nat) and described as medium dry, a 375ml bottle costs £5.50 from The Cat in the Glass, who also sell the 750ml edition for £12 each. I bought mine for £6 from the magnificent Perry Bar at the Three Counties Autumn Show last weekend. Let’s see what kind of a tribute it is.

Bartestree Ray Williams Tribute Perry 2022 – review

How I served: Chilled

Appearance: Pearlescent gold. Light spritz of fizz.

On the nose: Absolutely fabulous aromatics. Billowing, broad, defined and heaving with ripe, fresh fruit. Superb sorting. Hendre Huffcap is on song – huge apricot, peach, even mango – but there’s citrus here too, the gentle softness of tangerine. Actually not too far off a Domfront style of nose. Sensationally perfumed fragrance.

In the mouth: Delivery is high definition. Vivid, fresh Winnal’s acidity heightens the apricot and stone fruit whilst allowing more space for additional ripe citrus. Mango, star fruit, big pineapple, yuzu and a touch of lime marmalade. An endless cornucopia of fruit in every shade – even some summer berries in a light way. Florals are present too, in a warm, tropical sense. Just epic ripe fruit definition. Just a smidge off-dry and the sweetness is judged and balanced perfectly. Apricots return in a big way on the finish.

In a nutshell: Just the most beautiful encapsulation of the best of two brilliant varieties. Genuinely the best Bartestree perry I’ve had in years. And that’s saying something.

Conclusions

A fitting tribute to the father of modern perry pear study and a fitting signoff from one of the best perrymakers in the Three Counties – or anywhere else in the world. I should have bought far more of this and will be doing so as fast as I can. One of the best perries I’ve had this year and certainly the perry that will come with my highest recommendation, given the circumstances. A fitting way to get Perry Month started, I reckon. 

Not much more to say besides to congratulate Dave and Fiona on a phenomenal legacy, and say thank you for all the joy they’ve brought perry lovers over the years. Best of luck to them with whatever they do next.