Troddenvale “Petite Cider” Bath County, VA 2021

FROM DISCO LIQUIDS:

THE CIDER: Leading up to the 2021 harvest, we experienced a long, five week drought with fairly intense heat. In the Shenandoah Valley, Raul Godinez harvested his fruit just before late summer rains finally arrived. The resulting barrel was one of the most powerful VHC ciders was have experience to date; expressive sugar levels, profuse, and rich. Over the Blue Ridge, Silvercreek elected to harvest just after rain, flushing the trees with a surge of moisture. The resulting barrel lended more restraint and finesse, showing more desirable aromatics, and balanced out the intensity of other barrels. And for the first time ever, we were able to harvest enough VHC locally for a barrel purely from Bath County. Showing its elevation, this fruit was harvested nearly two weeks later than the rest, yielding concentration and heightened acidity. Given the immense body of this particular vintage, we elected to forgo any bâtonnage and focused on preserving its fruit. Our fourth vintage of Petite showcases a decadent bouquet of brown butter and citrus, complimented by a more pronounced tannic structure and pithy orange finish.

THE PRODUCER: In their own words: “Troddenvale roughly translates to the ‘valley road’ and is inspired by a lengthy history of visitors traveling to the cradle of Virginia’s Warm Springs Valley. Translated through our cider, we strive to preserve this valley’s treasured history, its spring water, forgotten orchards, and furthermore, we seek an opportunity for new stories to be told - of the land, the soil, and the people. We are focused on revitalizing fruit growing for cider production in our mountain region of Virginia. We believe that dedicating our efforts to where fruit is grown and how will lead us to achieve the greatest potential in our cider.”

In their efforts to support the broader region, they glean a lot of fruit from old abandoned orchards and seedlings on the perimeters of properties. However, they also consistently buy fruit from growers in the area, working with them to improve their agricultural practices even if the farmers are resistant to organic/regenerative agriculture. Will and Cornelia planted a home vineyard (pictured above) to many varieties and are farming it according to regenerative principles. They have also started a food share (basically a farmer’s market) that’s transforming the region’s agriculture; their chicken farming neighbors now sell the majority of their chickens to customers in Western VA.