Snowdrift Cider Co.

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This post is part of a month-long blog series showcasing the talents of the local chefs and cideries that will be participating in City Fruit’s 6th Annual Cider Taste on November 10, 2016. To purchase a ticket, please click here.

Snowdrift Cider Co., hailing from sunny East Wenatchee, is owned by Mary Ann and Peter Ringsrud. After several decades of experience growing apples for eating, Mary Ann and Peter delved into growing apple varieties with gnarlier, more intense character for cider-making. One of the Ringsruds’ first experiences making cider was with a 100-year-old hand crank press borrowed from a family friend.

snowdrift_logocrop.jpgTheir reverence for history and rediscovery of heirloom apples shines through in their tree-to-bottle process. Snowdrift’s eight ciders draw on French, English and old American cider apple varieties. These include the Calville Blanc d’Hiver dating to the 16th century – eaten by King Louis XIII (!) – as well as the American classic Roxbury Russet and the 18th century English Ashmead’s Kernel. Snowdrift’s ciders even draw on the crab apple varieties previously ignored in their orchard to serve as pollinators.

Visit Snowdrift Cider Co. Fridays and Saturdays noon to 5pm at 277 Ward Ave., East Wenatchee, WA. Call ahead for appointments.

Snowdrift Cider Co. has partnered with City Fruit for the Annual Cider Taste fundraiser every year! City Fruit is honored to be joined by Snowdrift once again on November 10. Don’t miss out on these special heritage ciders – buy your tickets today!

Yiling Wong is a City Fruit Ambassador.

 

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Snowdrift Cider Co.

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Snowdrift Cidery is located in the Wenatchee Valley, next to the city that is fondly referred to as the “Apple Capitol of the World”. The orchard in East Wenatchee that would become Snowdrift Cidery was planted in the 1960s, and Mary Ann and Peter Ringsrud have been farming there since 1974. The family has deep roots in the area – Peter Ringsrud was raised on an orchard in Cashmere, Washington (still owned by the family) where his father had migrated to from North Dakota in search of work in the 1940s.

 

After learning about historic French and English heirloom cider apple varieties in the early 2000s, the Ringsruds consulted cider expert Peter Mitchell and began making the necessary preparations for commercial cider production in 2008. By 2009, Snowdrift received an official license for commercial cider production. They produced 200 cases of four different blends in their first season.

 

Today, Snowdrift produces six ciders and one perry that are sold nationally.

 

Snowdrift Ciders at 2015 City Fruit Cider Taste:

Cliffbreaks

Cornice

Red

You can taste these delicious ciders at City Fruit’s 5th Annual Cider Taste Fundraiser on November 12th! Get your tickets here.

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Snowdrift Cider Co.

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Snowdrift Cider, located in the heart of Washington apple country, started commercially producing artisan ciders around 2009. But Peter Ringsrud, who with his wife Mary Ann bought 40 acres in East Wenatchee in the early 1970s, has been working the land for a great deal longer. Peter grew up on an orchard in Cashmere, WA, owned by his father, Frederic, who left North Dakota during the Depression to look for work. He found it in the orchard fields of Washington state, and Peter followed suit.

“I’m an orchardist,” Peter says matter-of-factly. “I initially tried to make cider out of dessert fruit [like Red & Golden Delicious apples] that I’d grown for 40 years.” But something wasn’t right. Peter had become skilled at producing a variety of fruit wines over the years, and he couldn’t quite understand why his cider was coming up short. In 2004, he had a chance to take a Peter Mitchell class at Washington State University, and it finally clicked. “I realized I was using the wrong apples, so we grafted over a few acres of Red Delicious with heirloom varieties like Dabinett and Yarlington Mill.”

Quite suddenly, Peter had a whole new range of flavors to work with, and it shows in the delightful ciders Snowdrift produces today. A fan favorite is the Cliffsbreak Blend, full bodied with a light sparkle that carries classic English cider and bittersweet apple aromas followed by flavors of melons and dried fruit. Another is the Dry Cider, made in the English tradition and with a hint of toffee and a light sparkle that carries delicate orchard fruit aromatics in the lingering finish. You’ll find both of these blends at City Fruit’s 4th Annual Hard Cider Taste on November 6th. Get your tickets today to sample Snowdrift’s premier ciders from the heart of Washington apple country.

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