South Hill Cider - Pommeau (375 mL)
South Hill Cider - Pommeau (375 mL)
South Hill Cider's Pommeau is a port-style cider made by blending apple brandy with fresh apple juice during the fermentation process. The alcoholic content of the brandy prevents further fermentation of the juice, resulting in a residual sweetness and preserved flavor of the heirloom apple varieties used. The blend of the apple brandy and juice is allowed to age in barrels for several months.
Best enjoyed as an aperitif - small 1-2 ounce pours before or after dinner. High ABV (19%). An open bottle of pommeau will last for years much like a fine spirit (if you can resist drinking it more immediately!).
South Hill's pommeau is made from a blend of heirloom and bittersweet apples, blended with custom-distilled barrel-aged apple brandy. Aged in neutral oak using a Solera method so each bottling is a blend going back to 2014.
TASTING NOTES: Golden color, aromas of caramel, honey. Rich, warming with a touch of fennel accenting its velvety sweetness. Pairs perfectly with cheese, especially blues, and as a sweetener in cocktails.
About Pommeau: Pommeau is a fortified cider enjoyed as a dessert or an apéritif. Pommeau is made by blending unfermented apple juice with apple brandy. The mixture is then aged in oak barrels, typically for at least 2 years (and often longer). The high percentage of alcohol from the apple brandy prevents the fresh juice from fermenting, and thus the beverage retains a considerable level of sweetness. The prolonged aging results in a rich melding of complex flavors from the cider juice blend, warmth from the brandy, and complexities from the barrel. Pommeau typically has an alcohol by volume in the 16-18% range, and is best enjoyed an ounce or two at a time at cellar temperatures. Stored at cellar temperatures or refrigerated, even an open bottle of Pommeau will age well and can be enjoyed slowly over time. Originally made in the Normandy and Brittany regions of France, where appellation controls are in place for pommeau products. Many American cider makers will label their pommeau style products as an Apple Mistelle, Fortified Apple Wine, or Apple Dessert Wine. For more on Pommeau, check out our blog post, What is Pommeau?
About South Hill: South Hill Cider is located in Ithaca, in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York - an area highly regarded for it's orchards and vineyards, and one of the premier cider making regions in the U.S. All of the apples used in South Hill's ciders are organic; most are now grown on their own orchard - though they still source fruit from other nearby orchards, as well as a few wild growing trees they forage fruit from. Their ciders are all naturally / wild fermented using the native yeast living on the fruit and in the cidery. South Hill makes an excellent mix of dry to semi-dry ciders, mostly sparkling plus a few of our favorite still ciders, and some of the best pommeau (apple mistelle) made in America. Head cider maker Steve Selin is a long time musician - many of their ciders have a name that pays homage to his musical roots.
- Dry-to-Sweet Scale: Sweet
- Tannins:
- Acidity:
- 🍎🍐 Varieties: Apple Variety Info Unavailable
- Features:
- ABV: 19.0%
- Format: 375 mL Bottle
- Shipping available across U.S.
- In stock, ready to ship
- Inventory on the way