A veritable cornucopia of sights, smells, and sounds awaits you as you enter the Malvern Show Ground for its annual Autumn Show. This must surely be the best time of year for the show with harvest in full swing and everyone eager to soak up the last of the warm, sunny days that the year has to offer. Classic cars and classic bars to the left, a competition pen for livestock on the right; repurposed whisky cask hot tubs on the left, power of attorney and environmental stands on the right; Monty Don giving a talk on the left (more on him later) and nurseries stocking every possible bulb you could hope to buy for your garden on the right. And there, right in the centre of it all, a marquee named the Orchard and Hopyard pavilion, packed to the brim with perry makers, a prize-winning perry pear display from the National Collection at Hartpury, Gloucestershire apples of all use, hop bines, and a little stage ready to announce the winners of the International Perry Championship. If this sounds like a little slice of heaven to you, well, I couldn’t agree more!

The competition wasn’t just international; it was the inaugural perry-specific competition from the Three Counties Cider & Perry association. A chance to shine the spotlight solely on the perry-related output from producers from all across the globe. If you were an international entrant, your submission was complimentary, owing to the rigmarole and cost of getting your bottles over to these shores right now. UK entrants were just £6 per entry – a good price to encourage as many entries as possible. The judging team featured esteemed names from the world of cider and perry: James Crowden, Alison Taffs, Lydia Crimp, and Jon Thomas. As the Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners of each category were read out (Single Variety, Dry, Medium, Sweet, Bottle Conditioned, County Winner, Overall Winner), some fondly familiar entrant names were announced: Palmers Upland Cyder, Charnwood Cider, Olivers Cider & Perry, Ross on Wye Cider & Perry, Little Pomona, Rob’s Cider, and of course, the brilliant 99 Pines! One name that swept up numerous awards was someone who wasn’t able to attend, but I’m told does very well in many competitions: Alistair Smith from Nottinghamshire. A name to look out for! You’ll be pleased to know that our esteemed editor Barry, and myself also entered the competition with our wares. For Barry I understand it was a case of “very, very close” to an award, and for myself more a case of “but no cigar” (but equally, no faults), it really was more about the taking part that counted, to be judged alongside such a high quality of fellow perry-makers is a once-in-a-year experience.

There were a few fruit displays inside the Orchard and Hop pavilion, all were impressive in their own right, tables and tiered-stands showcasing apples and pears that glistened russeted green, sunset orange, and red sky in the morning burgundy, but…one stand stood out over the others. It greeted you as you walked into the marquee. I’ve seen it mentioned numerous times online over the last 5+ years that I’ve really started to pay attention to the special things in craft cider and perry-making. Jim Chapman’s display of over 130 perry pears, from the National Perry Pear Collection in Hartpury, elegantly arranged on little named trays, vestibules that wouldn’t go amiss in a sushi restaurant, but here in this right place, right time of the year marquee, offers up a feast to the eyes. It’s the collective endeavours of chance and design over the last 300+ years of farmers, orchardists, and perry makers who have all said at one point: “yes, I like this variety of perry pear, let’s graft it and give it another shot at entertaining the next generation in drink format.” It’s one thing to see a static, 2D photo of this showcase of perry pears, pixilated when you zoom in, no shadows or sense of smell from the fruit. It’s quite another to walk along and see right in front of you all the different Huffcaps, Longdons, Squashes, Wick varietals, the rarity superstars that have found advocates (Flakey Bark, Coppy, and Betty Prosser, I’m looking at you). This display is a quite rightly an annual winner at the Autumn Malvern Show, with the Hartpury Heritage Trust this year a recipient of CAMRA’s Pomona Award 2025. Well done Jim and all involved for inspiring us to keep these special perry pear varieties growing on into the coming decades ahead!

To the right of the Perry Pear display sat another, Gloucestershire Orchard Trust’s display of Gloucestershire apples: cider, culinary, and dessert. Looked after on the Saturday I visited, in an informative and friendly manner, by Deborah Fox (instafoxfun on Instagram, well worth a follow). I was convinced to try a nibble of a cider apple that was apparently quite palatable…I’ll stick to the dessert fruit for that in future 😉 If you’ve read Charles Martell’s excellent book, Native Apples of Gloucestershire, well, this was a pop-up live version of that book. Yes, there were apples whose county origins could be under contention across the Three Counties (and neighbours), but there were also apples I’ve only read about but never seen in the flesh before. Alongside the perry pears Boy, Dead Boy, and Cheat Boy, there’s a cider apple called Kill Boys. I’ve never seen any cidermaker using it and naming it in a blend before: it’s down as “critically rare” in Charles’ book, but there it was, casually sitting alongside its neighbours. To the left of the marquee was one of the UK’s top fruit tree nurseries, Frank P Matthews, with a gigantic display of apples, all available to order from its online store. To walk up and down this display somewhat bombarded the senses, I wanted to know the backstories to every variety. Then, as Phil Palmer and Rob Clough both pointed out, when some cider apple varieties like Browns and Yarlington Mill that were on show, definitely weren’t that variety, I wanted to know if a generation of start-up cidermakers were accidently planting the wrong versions of a variety in their orchard(hey, it’s happened with Ball’s Bittersweet and Michelin/Bisquet).

Just past lunchtime and I buddied up with good friend and all-round cider and perry advocate, Alison Taffs of the Hop Inn, Hornchurch, to host a tutored perry tasting of various bottlings I’ve created over the past few years with Toye’s Cider. I think the oldest went back to… 2022, and then some were from 2024. I was really pleasantly surprised by how many people we had sit down and go with us on a perry journey for nearly 90minutes. There were single varieties, unknown varieties, barrel-aged, and orchard blend offerings, and at one point, looking up and around the audience, there was BBC Gardeners World don of dons, Monty Don, casually listening in to Alison discussing the merits of unfiltered, full juice perry – very cool! It’s heartening to see that you can capture peoples’ imaginations and pique their interest, even 20-30 people at a time, with the right, inclusive approach to informing them about a variety or style of drink they may not have been exposed to – similarly why the Cider & Perry clubs dotted all over the country are doing such an important grassroots job at building awareness of perry as a drinks category.

Let’s finish then on two reviews of two perries launched at the Malvern Autumn Show, a single variety Red Pear from Ross Cider, and a dual blend of Winnals Longdon and Hendre Huffcap from 99 Pines. The Red Pear justly winning the dry category of the International Perry Championship, it’s delicious, and one of those varieties I haven’t tried enough of to form an rounded opinion of the variety yet (future review ideas forming)! 99 Pines’ perry uses fruit from all around us in the Malvern Showground – very meta. This to me really is the point of it all, there’s no point in talking about these rare trees, planting these rare trees, if the fruit isn’t going to be used and generate new legions of fans for another century ahead. Quick shoutout to Fiona Hailstone who has designed the label for this bottling – it’s absolutely beautiful, in the fine tradition of pomonas including these eye-catching illustrations of the fruit they describe. Let’s revel in it for a second:

What Phil is managing to do, straddling the original National Perry Pear Collection in Malvern, and the larger, expanded second collection in Hartpury, as well as proactively managing the associated diseases that come with maintaining an orchard, namely fireblight in the Malvern site, is so important. A part of me thinks that the large destructive element of fireblight here in the UK’s orchards is that it’s attacking trees that aren’t cared for and maintained. An attitude by some that says “oh the trees have been here for a couple of hundred years already, why bother pruning that out?” And before you know it, you’ve lost the whole tree. Phil is ensuring the 30+ year old trees in Malvern have a fighting chance to keep growing and showing resilience for at least the next couple of decades. A worthy reason if any to purchase a bottle or two of his perry!

99 Pines, National Perry Collection Release #1 – review

Winnals Longdon (25%) and Hendre Huffcap (75%) Pet Nat.

How I served: A day in the fridge, 20 mins out in the study

Appearance: Greenish lime gold, slight haze, moderate effervescence with no discernible mousse.

On the nose: Finally a drinks review I can use this word! Vellichor – the wistful smell of leather-bound books. I’d also settle for a bit of wellington boot and petroleum. I mean all this in a very positive manner – I look for this in perries in particular now. Lime jelly cubes, green olives, pink grapefruit aroma as it warms up.

In the mouth: Love the tasting notes on the bottle here of honeysuckle, greengage and red berries – can I add red gooseberry here to the list please? This is a juicy fruit bomb: one third citrusy acidic top notes, two thirds juicy mid-range. Very approachable to a wide range of tastebuds. That light effervescence dances like a dab of sherbet on the front of the tongue. There’s a mead-like quality as it warms up further. So much flavour packed into the 5.4% from the wet, cloudy, sunlight-depleted harvest that was 2024.

In a nutshell: An exceptional perry that showcases just two of the numerous perry pear trees planted 25+ years ago in the first, the original National Perry Collection in Malvern.

Ross Cider, Red Pear S.V.P 2023 – review

How I served: A day in the fridge then 30 minutes out in the sitting room to acclimatise.

Appearance: Bright, shiny, polished new £1 coins, very light effervescence, no real mousse, bit of sediment initially brought up in the bottle but it settles after 30 seconds.

On the nose: Hazelnut/Cobnut meets Elderflower and Honeysuckle, an aroma combo I’ve not experience before – how exciting! Red Pear, or it’s synonym, Aylton Red, is not one I’ve tried that often (perhaps just 99 Pines in a blend), so it’s great to try it here in 750ml presentation. Perhaps a bit of winter pine forest, something festive and Christmassy creeping in.

In the mouth: Pine needles atop honeydew melon balls, super clean, verging on the lightest hint of menthol. Golden kiwi flesh and hard-boiled pear drop sweets. It’s candied and estery whilst also skewing pleasingly dry and slightly chalky texture-wise on arrival (I know this is a whole barrel of oxymorons from me, but that’s the beauty of perry).

In a nutshell: A worthy winner of the single variety category at the International Perry Pear Competition. Seek out a bottle or two (and plant an Aylton Red in your garden this winter).

Conclusions

If you can, and the time is available to you, get down to the next Malvern Autumn Show. It will fill you with inspiration for the Autumn and Winter ahead. For as long as we’re in a time where Jim Chapman curates a special display of Hartpury’s perry pears, and Albert Johnson pulls together perrymakers from across the globe to compete with pride and mutual affection for their fellow perrymakers, this is the perry place to be on a weekend in late September every year in the UK. This is one of those events whose subject matter, Perry, is on an upwards trajectory after so long residing as an afterthought to many. It’s so engaging as a subject due in part to its fragility, and the positive effects that those who choose to help its cause can have on its future. Namely, this Winter, if you can, somewhere in your local vicinity, plant a perry pear tree. Pears for you heirs refers to the longevity of the trees in questions, you and your neighbours will have fruit far sooner than you realise (I’m going to say on average here 5 years, rootstock dependant), and the trees will likely outlive us all and create wonderful ecosystems for everything around them. Now there’s a positive conclusion for late 2025!