Patois "Bricolage" Cider, Virginia 2021

FROM PATOIS:

THE CIDER: This cider is the central focus of the project. We forage from roughly 100 different unsprayed crab, heirloom, and seedling apple trees scattered around predominantly rocky soils at higher elevations. A cuvée of chance and discovery determined by the creative chaos of any given harvest. After near total frost losses in 2020, the trees held a reserve of energy to set a phenomenal crop. Warm summer temperatures with even amounts of rain maintained tree metabolism to produce lush concentration and full texture.

A continuous fermentation carried through the three-and-a-half month harvest window as the various apples ripened: After five days of maceration, fruit is pressed to finish fermentation in 500 L, 350 L, and 228 L neutral French oak barrels. Aged untouched on gross lees for 9 months. Intentionally left un-topped, each barrel develops a positive voile/flor that protects the wine and contributes mineral complexity. Barrels were blended together and bottled with organic cane sugar and its own yeast culture around the 2022 summer solstice. Aged on lees for 16-18 months before being riddled and disgorged by hand. No SO2 additions were made.

THE PRODUCER: Patois is Patrick Collins and Danielle LeCompte. Our focus is balance: How do untended apple trees maintain their ecological equilibrium, and how can an orchard mirror this dynamic? How will several successions of microorganisms collectively transform the fruit? How do we align ourselves and our work with the interconnecting cycles of nature? Can two people do this? We don’t own land because our scale cannot support those costs. Foraging allows us to utilize existing (if scattered) noncommercial fruit of supreme quality. These trees hold both the historical lessons of past plantings - sites proven by survival - and the genetic renewal through seedlings for future resilience. We observe these trees and attempt to restore them where we have regular access. We may also seek to propagate them through both grafting and sprouting seeds should landowners allow. Sometimes we imagine our own orchard of our favorite found varieties interspersed with vines; sometimes we think no single Shangri-La will ever approach the complexity of so many unique inputs assembled by a century of chance. We work fairly oxidatively in the cellar, due partly to aesthetic aims and partly to our minimal infrastructure. Everything is done by hand on a one or two person scale. Sparkling wine can be constrained by technique and fixed parameters, but we try to think creatively to achieve our goals with only fruit and time. While the ciders and wines will continue to evolve in the bottle upon release, they are not precious and are meant to be enjoyed. We hope to demonstrate that conventionally undervalued fruit is capable of producing delicious and complex wines when treated with intention and care.