An Introduction to Spanish Ciders
You may have noticed in October’s Beer Versus Wine Challenge that I paired a Spanish sidra (cider) and not a beer or wine with soft shell crabs. I know, I know. I completely broke the rules. A Spanish cider is NOT a beer or wine, and I gave If It Falls on the Floor hell for suggesting a cider in a past Beer Versus Wine Challenge (she even won the contest with it). But I had my reason for suggesting a Spanish cider.
A couple of months ago the good people at Ciders of Spain reached out to me to introduce their portfolio of Spanish ciders. At first, I wanted to ignore them. Ciders are sweet fruit bombs. You know, the crap Aunt Alice would drink. But then I started to catch headlines about craft cideries popping up all over the country. Was this a wave I should catch given that I live in North Carolina where apple orchards are abundant? (Note, 8 cideries participated in last weekend’s Octoberfest Celebration in Charlotte. Many of them were regional.) I learned that not all ciders are girl drinks like Angry Orchard markets. Thus, Ciders of Spain had me intrigued.
Spanish ciders are mainly produced in the province of Asturias in Northern Spain as they have been since at least the first century BC. While most of Spain is known for producing some amazing wines, Asturias is too rugged, mountainous, and rainy for grapes to grow well. History and terrain have taught the region to excel at cider making. You know, when life gives you apples, you might as well make cider…
What is a Spanish Cider?
Spanish ciders are quite different than the ciders we dink here in the States. Spanish ciders are cloudy and pale, often with chunks of dead yeast floating in the bottom of the bottle. The color is bright golden and there is little to no carbonation. The flavor has a slight funkiness to it, almost like a sour ale. While Spanish ciders drink more like a wine with a tannic finish, the alcohol content is closer to a beer never topping 7% (most hover around 6%). The process of brewing Spanish cider is natural, simple, and raw – pick the apples, crush the apples, press the juice out, ferment the juice with wild indigenous yeasts, bottle the cider, wait, and drink. The final product is unfiltered and unpasteurized.
Fans of the Spanish ciders like the drink for its uniqueness. They claim the low alcohol content gives the cider a quenching drinkability while the dry, tannic finish allows the cider to pair well with food. Are they correct or just caught up in a new trend? As part of my introduction, Ciders of Spain sent a variety of ciders to sample. This is the first installment in a three part series on Spanish ciders. In each post I will introduce a topic related to Spanish ciders and review a cider as it pairs with food.
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Sidra Natural Fanjul
The first ciders I reviewed were two vintages of Sidra Natural Fanjul (2012 and 2013). As I am a complete novice to not only Spanish ciders, but ciders in general, I had to perform quite a bit of research on what I was drinking. Below are Ciders of Spain’s technical notes for Sidra Natural Fanjul (These are pretty tame compared to what I will present in the next post in this series for Guzman Riestra).
- Producer: Sidra Fanjul
- Locale: Siero, Asturias
- Family production: over 100 Years
- Style: Sidra De Escanciar (traditional cider), Dry
- Varieties of Apples: Raxao (sharp), Regona (bittersharp), Verdialona (sweet), Collaos (semi-‐sharp), Fuentes (sharp)
- Pneumatic Pressing in 3 Hour cycles
- Fermented and matured in stainless steel
- Fermentation temp: 57˚ F, racked-‐off once
- Spontaneous Fermentation with indigenous yeast population of the llagar (cidery), Bottled unfiltered.
I also sought out some tasting notes as my palate is completely untrained to the nuances of any cider, let alone the shock I was told it would experience to a Spanish cider. Below is what Cider Journal had to say about 2013 vintage:
This traditional cider from the Asturias region of Northern Spain delivers the rustic, cloudy appearance of gold tinged with green that you expect from these simple, unique ciders. There are no bubbles sported. Just opaque golden-yellow. The Fanjul incarnation of Asturian cider delivers a bit more of the apple fruit aromas on the nose than many other natural ciders from this region. However, the tangy character and the funk is certainly front and center. There is an herbal note on the nose too that provides a freshness to the waft. On the palate this is light bodied cider with fine, crisp acidity, very moderate tannin, dry and still…marking it as a great choice for a thirst quenching quaffer. Tart lemony flavors and hints of new vinaiger—the tang—contribute to the freshness that defines this cider. A dry hay flavor is prominent too.
Herbal, funk, apple, tart-lemon, vinegar, and dry hay? Really? Because nothing says thirst quenching like vinegar. And what they hell does dry hay even taste like anyway? And why does the dude spell vinegar so funny? This description didn’t spell out anything that I wanted to try, but I’m always up for an adventure.
We started with the 2012. I found the nose to contain vinegar, apple, pear, and barnyard musk. I could see how it aligned with fried seafood as it smelled like a sweeter version of the malt vinegar I pour on my fish and chips. The palate carried all of the same flavors in a manner that was quite harsh. I found nothing pleasant or quenching about this cider. Surely the bottle most have spoiled.
Still, I wanted to give the cider the benefit of doubt. Trying any libation – beer, wine, scotch, or other – in a vacuum never does it justice. You have to drink it as you normally would. These ciders are meant to be paired with food. In particular, fried seafood. Perfect for Fried Soft Shell Crab Sandwiches! While the nose remained the same, combined with the fried soft shell crab sandwich, the palate mellowed substantially. I tasted more of the apple and tarty lemon notes. The finish became drier, and thus, more quenching. My mouth begged for another bite and another subsequent sip.
About halfway through dinner, we popped open the 2013. It contained the same nose and mouth of the 2012, but there was less of everything. It was much more manageable to a Spanish cider newbie.
While my descriptions above may not sing high praises to Spanish cider, I am intrigued to continue working through the sample pack. After all, I didn’t love scotch the first time I drank one. Or, more appropriately, I didn’t love sour beers. Both grew on me as I predict Spanish ciders will as well.
Have you tried a Spanish Cider before? What did you think of it?
Muchas gracias to Ciders of Spain for sending a sample kit of their product. Sometimes I review beers or wines sent on sample, and sometimes I review beers and wines I purchase as I follow my passion. Regardless, readers receive my honest opinions as unlike Yelp, my opinions are not for sale.