Welcome to the final month of the year and the first part of our look at Harvest 2023, crowd-sourced from a smashing, double-digit number of producers from all across the globe. We may still have 20+ days left of shortening waking hours and lengthening nights till the winter solstice. The festival of Brumalia is not quite celebrated by as large a number of revellers as many yesteryears ago (if anyone can bring it back, surely Artistraw are there to heed the call), but all is not shrouded in darkness. I figured it was time to take a collective look at how Harvest 2023 progressed for many of the producers we have spotlighted and reviewed on these digital pages over the last couple of years. Many will have finished their harvest a few weeks back; some will only just be drying off their wellies and hosing down their hydropresses; a few will be persevering through December and into the New Year. Most of the producers to be featured over the coming few articles are from the many corners of the UK, but we are a cider and perry reviewing site with a global audience, and as such, a few producers from further climes have responded to our request for insight into their experience of harvesttime this year. We’re very grateful to everyone who has come back to us with their answers – has there ever been such a wide, collective look at the experience of cider and perry makers at a specific point in time from all across the globe? 

From late frosts in Spring, wildfires in Summer, storms, and flooding in Autumn, it’s not been the easiest of years – but is any year ever truly perfect for an orchard (I can hear Adam saying yes, 2018 in the UK)? What excited me about pulling together these accounts of Harvest 2023 is that even within one specific region, there are varying differences in quality and availability of fruit, ease of pollination, and overall attitude to what the season has meant to each producer. 

As a consumer, we get to enjoy the crops of these harvests – fermented and presented in bottle, BIB, and can – one, two or maybe even three years down the line, but for each and everymaker producing full juice cider and perry, there’s an immediacy and lived experience with each harvest to get to that point-of-sale stage. The early starts and late finishes. The dew-covered sack barrow there to help prevent total back failure. The friends that have turned up, year upon year, to help pick fruit. The new stock of barrels or stainless-steel tanks that have arrived. The orchards that are having an “off” year in their biennial cycle. The young orchards that are starting to really produce a serious amount of fruit. The colleagues that sadly pass on. The new colleagues that appear stage left and feel like they’ve been in the team since day one. These nuances are fascinating, these stories are all part and parcel of what it is to be a cider and perry maker in the 21^stCentury. This is Harvest 2023.

Gregg’s Pit 

– Much Marcle, Herefordshire, UK.

First and Last date of Harvest 2023:

First date of harvest was Thorn perry pears on 14^th September, which we pressed on the 17th (earliest pressing dates for this variety have been 8^th September in 2014 and 10^th September in 2011).Last date of harvest in 2023 was Chisel Jersey late bittersweet cider apples on 20^th November, which we pressed on 23^rd November and added CaCo3 to ‘keeve’ 36 hours later.

Total amount of cider/perry/other made. Was it a good amount produced this year compared to others?: We made 2500 litres of perry and 1350 litres of cider in 2023. 900 litres of the cider will be ‘keeved’.

Total volume of perry/cider made in 2023 was about 1000 litres less than most other years – if you make it you have to sell it and ‘cost of living’ has hit both wholesale and retail sales.

A highlight for you of Harvest 2023:

The highlight of our harvest is always The Big Apple Herefordshire Harvesttime weekend (2nd weekend of October) when we’re one of the venues. But achieving OG 1063 with a 330-litre vat pressed from mid-season perry pears, and 1058 from late season Butt & Oldfield was also quite a high and antidote to the wet.

How would you describe the vintage of cider/perry/other produced this year? Were SG’s higher or lower than usual? What was the quality and abundance of the fruit like?:

It was a difficult harvest. Some perry pears ripened early with low sugar content and did not last – use them or lose them! Other varieties took longer to ripen and fall from the trees, especially true for late cider apples. Patience and careful fruit selection, both choice of varieties and what to harvest when, was more important than ever this year because fruit sugar levels were so low (likely due to rain and lack of sun during July/August – we had 2×330 litre vats of perry press out at OG1048 whereas we’d expect >1055 in a ‘normal’ year.

I have heard other makers report perry at <1040 which is pretty dire and probably not worth making! Acidity levels have been OK, but grounds conditions for harvesting were wretched due to incessant heavy rain in late October/early November.

A photo from Harvest 23 (with description):

99 Pines Perry 

– Kent’s Green, Gloucestershire, UK

Firstly … a bit of context about 99PINES.  It’s a hobby that got out of control a few years ago and turned into a mini community project in ’22.  We’ve a multi-skilled set of trustees and a very small band of volunteers that help me with harvest, bottling and events (we only do a handful a year, incl. guest stints at the National Perry Centre in Hartpury (down the road)).  We’ve all got day jobs, and do this in our spare time, spending a few hours here and there during the evening and weekends.  100% of profits are donated to charities nominated by our generous orchard owners at the end of the financial year.  Currently we are supporting St Richards Hospice (Worcester) and Teens in Crisis mental health charity (Forest of Dean). 

Based at the bottom of May Hill there’s a handful of heritage orchards about, and odd trees scattered around in gardens and farms.  In 2021 we started experimenting with perry (after making some awful cider) starting with Moorcroft and Blakeney Reds from a friend’s orchard.  This was when we started to learn about local perry heritage (we’re based at the base of May Hill) and put some proper research into cider and perry making techniques (Andrew Leas) book.

In 2022 we officially registered with HMRC as a charity and launched 99PINES with 400 or so bottles of predominantly Blakeney Red and Moorcroft from the 2021 harvest.  After a bit of social media and village magazine articles we quickly built up a range of donor trees, including some magnificent heritage perry orchards dating back 350 or so years (and still producing fruit). 

In 2022 we focused on mapping out some of these orchards, identifying the key varieties and producing single variety perries, to learn how they taste.  As we’re based in the parish of Taynton, this also included the Early Taynton Squash (that Adam recently wrote about).  After talking to Tom Oliver, I also threw together what I could find from one orchard and made an orchard blend.  2022 produced approx. 600 bottles and included Jenkins Red, Tawney’s Blend, Taynton Blush (70% Taynton Squash, 30% Blakeney Red) and Taynton Squash SVP.  What was unique about 2022 was the sugar levels … wow!  Being such a hot summer, the sugar levels were literally off the scale.  Blakeney Reds were starting at 1.080 and stopped fermentation at 1.030.  Jenkins Red were similar, stopping at 1.026.  Both were too sweet to bottle, so ended up being mixed with others (post fermentation) to make blends.  My theory here was that although sugar levels were high (with potential to reach over 10% abv) the levels of yeast and nutrients were not so balanced, so couldn’t finish the job.  The good news was that I also had some other naturally sweet perries (around 1.015) then went down brilliantly at events!

First and Last date of Harvest 2023: The 2023 harvest was very different for a few reasons. I’m learning that many of the varieties are bi-annual, so I’ve a different range of SVPs this year.  For example, the Taynton Squash trees (about 10 in different orchards) were all bare.

This year my harvest was super long … starting in September and not finishing until late November (I’ve got some Butts still to press).  The early varieties were also late … Moorcroft was harvested well into September, when I’ve picked them before in late August. Blakeney Red was also a couple of weeks later at the very end of October.

I got access to some new (but old) orchards with some exiting varieties including Butt, Gin and Oldfield.   What I didn’t realise before now was that most of my previous varieties were early varieties (Moorcroft, Blakeney Red). 

Total amount of cider/perry/other made. Was it a good amount produced this year compared to others?: The 2023 total will hit over 1200 litres, which is the maximum amount we can produce, which I’m hoping will be mouse free (I’m getting less each year!).  

A highlight for you of Harvest 2023: My highlight was probably being able to harvest and press a Cowslip pear.  This features in Charles Martell’s book Perry Pears of the Three Counties and is (I understand) the last mother tree of this variety in existence, with a few other grafts in the National Collection and Monnow Valley orchards.  I’ve made it into a 70% blend with 30% Moorcroft (slightly frustrated that I didn’t do an SVP, but I didn’t have enough).  I’m excited to see how this turns out.

How would you describe the vintage of cider/perry/otherproduced this year? Were SG’s higher or lower than usual? What was the quality and abundance of the fruit like?: Due to a pretty miserable summer the majority of sugar levels were low (average 1.042) except Oldfield, which was 1.070. I’m lucky enough to have an exciting range of superstar perries this year (in pressing order) – Thorn, Moorcroft, Cowslip / Moorcroft blend, Blakeney Red, Oldfield, Oldfield / Blakeney Blend, Red Pear, Orchard Blend (Red pear, Blakeney Red, Jenkins Red, Gin pear), Gin pear and Butt.

A photo from Harvest 23 (with description): 

Rull Orchard 

– Bickleigh, Devon, UK

First and Last date of Harvest 2023: We start harvest quite early as we also offer apple juice, but stuff starts to go into tank from mid-September. The first week or so is a lot of eating apples from peoples’ gardens – which can produce a very light fresh cider, but without much body or complexity. There are quite a few early Devon cider apples too. Last press will be next week, w/c 20^th November.

Total amount of cider/perry/other made. Was it a good amount produced this year compared to others?: Will be about 7000 litres – there is a continuum of the duty threshold till 2024 so we are just sticking to that for now.

I do think there will start to be a lot more variation from the smaller guys (previously anything other than apple or pear would see your whole volume taxed). We looked at a Quince Champagne and Keeved Apple & Medlar, but… that’s for next year!

A highlight for you of Harvest 2023: Access to new orchards, new named varieties, and getting more perry. Our first community press day with 30 people involved. Our own orchard starting to produce – 250 litres this year.

To mention a Lowlight counterpoint- I am still at that stage where I love what I do! Can pick and choose the days I pick! But access to new orchards means I see the unloved state many of them are in…

How would you describe the vintage of cider/perry/otherproduced this year? Were SG’s higher or lower than usual? What was the quality and abundance of the fruit like?: Very early to talk about vintage – let’s see how it ferments out, but the sugars do seem lower. As a hand-picker the apples are much bigger than last year – all the rain really swelled them up.

A photo from Harvest 23 (with description): 

Duckchicken Cider 

– Furzedown, London, UK

First and Last date of Harvest 2023: 8 October to 23 October

Total amount of cider/perry/other made. Was it a good amount produced this year compared to others?: Total pressed was 605 litres. It was by far and away the worst harvest we’ve experienced since starting in 2016. We were planning to make less cider this year (aiming for 1200 litres), but we picked as much as we really could given the crop and the weather this autumn. For example we only picked 100 kg of Cox’s Orange Pippin from the Easter Hill orchard, which even in a bad year would typically yield at least 1000 kg or 3000 kg in a good year.

The historic Bramley orchard we have been using since 2020, did not have any apples for us to pick this year, which we were hoping would have made up the missing 600 litres of production this year from our Pembury based orchards.

A highlight for you of Harvest 2023: James has just reminded me of standing in the old Bramley orchard in the late dusk after a disappointing day picking in the the commercial orchard, realising there were no apples in the Bramley orchard to pick the next weekend. And like that, our picking for 2023 was done. We were able to pick a few Russets (unknown russet variety) off a tree with the light of our phones to share with work colleagues, but that was us. Done.

That was the 23rd October, which would have been our cat Piccadilly’s 17th birthday, but she passed away on 26 September. She always loved inspecting our bags of apples, scratting and packaging operations, so it was hard not to have her around for the first time. 

We retired to the Bell and Jorrocks pub not too far away from the old Bramley orchard for a pint while the rain and cold moved in. The cask ale was tasting great and it was a bit of solace after a long day.

End of story, there were no highlights this year. 😂

How would you describe the vintage of cider/perry/otherproduced this year? Were SG’s higher or lower than usual? What was the quality and abundance of the fruit like?: The sugars were very high this year. Easter Hill (SV Cox) normally ferments out to 6.8-7.4%. This year it will end up being 8.1%.

A photo from Harvest 23 (with description): 

Riley’s Cider

 – Bowen Island, British Columbia, Canada

First and Last date of Harvest 2023: With so many varieties we pick apples from August until November. This Harvest we started picking August 18^th and finished on November 11^th.

Total amount of cider/perry/other made. Was it a good amount produced this year compared to others?: This was an average year; our McIntosh Orchard is trending toward biennial as the trees are on standard rootstock. Both orchards (Bowen Island and Similkameen Valley) were early with the warm, hot weather we had this summer.

A highlight for you of Harvest 2023: Some of the cider varieties we planted in our Bowen Island orchard in 2018/19 started to produce fruit this year and we are very excited about the possibilities of some single varietals in particular Nehou.

How would you describe the vintage of cider/perry/otherproduced this year? Were SG’s higher or lower than usual? What was the quality and abundance of the fruit like?: Higher SG with all the hot dry weather we had!

A photo from Harvest 23 (with description): 

Brollins Cider 

– Birmingham, UK

First and Last date of Harvest 2023: We’re a little bit different to most cider makers in that we rely on apple donations from people in and around Birmingham. We ask our apple donors to collect the apples and have them bagged up ready for us to collect in return for a bottle of last year’s cider.

We started collecting apples around the middle of September. We usually have a steady stream of apples coming our way from September and into November, but this year wasn’t so good. We probably took in around 50 kilos of apples this year (we’re super small scale and process everything by hand). Seems the relatively wet summer we’ve had, combined with some fairly high winds put paid to any illusions of a bumper crop.

All of our apples were processed in one sitting at the start of October.

Total amount of cider/perry/other made. Was it a good amount produced this year compared to others?: We produced around 20 litres of juice this year – yes it’s a tiny amount but whatever we get we’re grateful for. We kept 5 litres aside and pasteurised it to be drunk as apple juice and the remaining 15 litres have gone into the very small batch of cider that will make up our Billesley Blend (a blend of unknown cookers and eaters – we suspect its mainly Cox and Bramley). We’ll have made around a quarter of the cider we did last year. We’ll probably buy in some juice again to top up.

A highlight for you of Harvest 2023: Pressing everything we had in one sitting. Everything we do is by hand from scratting (pulping the apples) to pressing the juice and it is bloody hard work. If ever we get to a point when we make more than 50 litres a season (something I’m hopeful of) I’ll invest in a fruit shark, or something similar.

How would you describe the vintage of cider/perry/otherproduced this year? Were SG’s higher or lower than usual? What was the quality and abundance of the fruit like?: It’s not great. The wet weather and some strong winds meant that fruit didn’t ripen fully and fell to the ground early. We ended up with a lot of apples that were small and really hard – the knock-on result being far fewer donations of fruit and much less juice than we’d have liked from what we had through the door. As much as I’d like to be making cider on a bigger commercial scale, sometimes it’s a blessing that we don’t… SG was lower than last year. We’ll still end up with a 6% cider. And the sharp Bramley and Cox blend that we produce works (we think) really well when it’s had a bit of time on Bourbon oak chips.

A photo from Harvest 23 (with description): 

Bizio

– Zelaia, Basque Country, Spain

First and Last date of Harvest 2023: We started on the 19^thJuly and finished on 19^th November.

Total amount of cider/perry/other made. Was it a good amount produced this year compared to others?: We’ve pressed around 5600Kg of fruit this Harvest. This year has been the big harvest year, last year was the weak year. Even though it´s been a quite dry year, but not really sunny, the trees don’t seem to have suffered that much. As we have seen in the past few years, the harvest season is starting a bit earlier because of the apple ripeness.

A highlight for you of Harvest 2023: We will make an experimental cider with wild apples, and we also harvested in a new orchard to us, so let see how it goes!

How would you describe the vintage of cider/perry/other produced this year? Were SG’s higher or lower than usual? What was the quality and abundance of the fruit like?

Now we are in Autumn, the temperatures have turned quite cold the last month and a bit so it has helped me a lot to slow down the fermentations. Last year (2022) was crazy and the average temperature in October and early November was quite high. The fermentation went too fast, and I think I can feel it in that vintage.

A photo from Harvest 23 (with description)

Brennan’s Cider 

– Hightown, Merseyside, UK.

First and Last date of Harvest 2023: Starting date for us was 1^st September finishing on 19^th November.

Total amount of cider/perry/other made. Was it a good amount produced this year compared to others?: Unfortunately, due to storms and bad weather we harvested fewer apples, after a promising start, we only produced 900ltrs. A lot lower than the 2,000ltrs last year.

A highlight for you of Harvest 2023: Our highlight was gaining access to 2 more orchards this year which bodes well for next year.

How would you describe the vintage of cider/perry/other produced this year? Were SG’s higher or lower than usual? What was the quality and abundance of the fruit like?: Though we harvested fewer apples and subsequently produced less juice the quality of the fruit was better with a higher sugar content and the juice tasted was exceptional so we are expecting a very good vintage year from 2023.

A photo from Harvest 23 (with description): 

Baumann’s Cider 

– Gervais, Oregon, USA

I run a farm-based cidery in Gervais, Oregon, mid-Willamette Valley. We own about 60 acres of apples and manage around 12 acres of nearby orchards, in addition to purchasing apples from several other local farmers. 

First and Last date of Harvest 2023: While our berries and other earlier fruits were a little late, some warmer than usual temps in late July and August meant that we did most of our apple picking in August/September rather than September/October.

Total amount of cider/perry/other made. Was it a good amount produced this year compared to others?: Last year was an irregularly low yield for us due to an extremely cold storm in April that devastated pollinators and blossoms. This year was a dramatic overcompensation. Our yields were more than double last year, and a lot of farmers left gorgeous fruit hanging because of the abundance of supply.

A highlight for you of Harvest 2023: A highlight beyond the amazing fruit and perfect specs on the juice was that a perfect confluence of warm weather and early morning mists meant more frogs in the orchard than I have ever seen. I literally could barely take a step without multiple frogs jumping from under every footfall!

How would you describe the vintage of cider/perry/other produced this year? Were SG’s higher or lower than usual? What was the quality and abundance of the fruit like?: So far, with this harvest year, we are seeing ciders with very expressive acid balance, rich and tangy. When weather or other conditions (e.g. early frost or looming wildfires) push us to pick earlier than peak ripeness, we see starchy, grippy acids, but none of our varietals came out of the orchard before they were good and ripe this year, and it makes every step of the process more hands-off and easy-to-drink. The gravities were textbook, in perfect range for each varietal. Maybe a heat spike would have bumped them up a little higher, but then we would have to give them time to mellow and become fruity again, so mid-range sugars are nice, again allowing for more respectfully hands off cider making. Our Golden Russet apples (the ones with the russetted calyx in the photos) were at 20 Brix in 2022 and a much more manageable 16-17 in 2023. The ’22 Golden Russet Single Varietal cider tasted like brandy post-primary, and not in a good way! It has only just not cooled down to where the aromatics of the apple overshine that of the alcohol.

This harvest year was nearly double what we saw last year, and certainly a generous volume above any in my memory. Recently I was looking through photos from the past couple of years, trying to recall the timing of the wild fires that put our farm across the street from the evacuation zone. In scrolling through, I am reminded that in the two years of the deep pandemic, we had an ice storm that knocked down nearly half the power lines (and so many trees) in our part of the valley, cutting off access to our orchard for months. Then we had a very late season frost that knocked out all of the pollinators and left entire blocks of the orchard with only a handful of apples to be seen come harvest. Come summer, the smoke from the fires choked out the trees and all the fruit and all of the leaves dropped to the ground overnight, not to mention that the air quality prevented us from stepping outside, should we have been able to go and pick up the fruit. And then in 2022, we had the heat dome that melted any fruit left hanging, with temps above 46C for over a week in our temperate little valley. All of this to say, 2023 has been amazing, and the ciders are tasting just perfect.

A photo from Harvest 23 (with description): 

Fournier Cider/ Cidre d’Habloville

– Habloville, France

First and Last date of Harvest 2023: I started picking late September (a little earlier than normal-the fruit was very mixed with some ripening ahead of normal and others resolutely green/unripe and a reasonable amount of brown rot; I had to go through the orchard several times picking up from the same tree), 28th September. I finished picking on the 15th ( everything was down, even my “tardive” , the St Martin).

Total amount of cider/perry/other made. Was it a good amount produced this year compared to others?: I have currently made just over 500 litres and will press the St Martin when they have softened in the first half of December ( so probably another 50 litres making just over 550 litres in total). My friend’s orchard at the Chateau had almost nothing this year. My trees were somewhat erratic – some had nothing, and others were breaking under the weight of fruit.

A highlight for you of Harvest 2023: My personal highlight was finally getting a decent crop from my “sharps” (Rambault and Locard Vert).

How would you describe the vintage of cider/perry/otherproduced this year? Were SG’s higher or lower than usual? What was the quality and abundance of the fruit like?: SGs were definitely down but plenty of fruit ( I harvested about 1000-1100 kilos from my trees this year). Also as mentioned while some fruit ripened early, it was very mixed with other fruit on the same trees ripening much later than normal (or not ripening at all). Overall, a good and abundant crop (sufficient in the case of my Binet Rouges to cause breakages).

A photo from Harvest 23 (with description):