Sundström Cider 'Sponti' 2021

Leif Sundström is a true Hudson Valley cider craftsman. Having worked in the wine industry, both in the US and in Germany, he brings to cidermaking the sensibility of a winemaker evaluating the match between fruit variety, terroir, and process. He takes inspiration not only from German winemakers and cidermakers drawing on regional traditions unbroken for centuries, but also on the more recent revival of apple growing and cidermaking in the northeastern US. Leif generally sources apples from three distinct New York regions: Columbia County in the Hudson Valley, the Cayuga-Seneca Lakes area of the Finger Lakes, and Wayne County to the north (closer to Lake Ontario). The 2021 edition of his ‘Sponti’ (short for “spontaneous cuvée”) combines 39% northern spy, 28% golden russet, 23% baldwin, and 10% newtown pippin, from just two orchards in the Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario regions. "After a brief sweating, the 2021 apples received a maceration averaging roughly 30 hours prior to pressing. Native fermentations kicked off without temperature control and the cider aged in stainless steel for an extended period on the lees with no battonage. Bottled by traditional method without disgorgement; no fining or filtration. Sulfured minutely, only once - at racking and based on pH." Clean, dry, and eminently drinkable, it presents pleasant, light tannins on the finish.