Patois "Mint Springs" Cider, Albemarle, Virginia 2020

FROM PATOIS:

THE CIDER: First planted in the nineteenth century and now untended for almost twenty years, this site holds the remnants of the former Wayland Orchard in Crozet. We’re rehabbing the existing Stayman and Winesap trees and replanting seedlings without the use of any synthetic chemical inputs. Clay loam of granitic schist with many rock fragments, 950’ elevation. Additional unsprayed crab and solitary apple trees around Albemarle County allowed us to fill the barrel. 2020 taught us why most of the historic orchard sites east of the Blue Ridge were planted below 1000’ elevation: late spring frosts claimed almost all fruit in the mountains but spared those further down the slopes. The cooler spring delayed ripening and provided higher than usual acidity. Apples fermented on their skins for five days with the cap kept wet by hand. Pressed cider finished fermentation in used French oak and aged for six months under voile. Bottles were re-fermented in the traditional method with their own yeasts and organic sugar. Aged on lees 18 months before being riddled and disgorged by hand. No SO2 additions were made. Rose hip, concord grape, pecan.

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.