Pilton Cider, Somerset Keeved Cider, 2024

'One-Liner'
Proper Somerset cider made the patient way – juicy apple, red berries and gentle tannin, with its sweetness coming entirely from the fruit.

Tasting Note
Warm amber-gold in the glass, with an inviting nose of ripe apple, toffee apple and red berry fruit alongside a subtle earthy, tea-like note. The palate is smooth and naturally rounded, with juicy orchard fruit balanced by soft tannins and a gentle touch of bitterness. There is sweetness here, but it feels fresh and integrated rather than sugary, with the bittersweet apples giving the cider plenty of structure. Hints of caramel, red fruit and savoury apple skin add character as it opens. Light, refreshing and quietly complex, with a clean, rounded finish that makes it particularly good at the table.

Country: England
Region: Somerset
Sub-Region: Pilton
Grape(s): Apples
ABV: 5%
Friendly: Vegan, Vegetarian

Awards & Critics' Scores
n/a

The Story
Pilton’s original cider is a brilliant introduction to one of cider making’s most traditional and fascinating techniques: keeving. Instead of fermenting apple juice completely dry and then adding sweetness back afterwards, keeving removes nutrients from the freshly pressed juice so that the wild yeasts naturally slow and eventually stop fermenting, leaving some of the apples’ own sugar behind. Nothing needs to be added – just cider apples, wild yeast, cool cellars and plenty of patience. Pilton has been making this style since 2010 using bittersweet fruit from traditional Somerset orchards, many planted in the 1960s and 70s, where low-yielding trees produce small apples with concentrated flavour and tannin. The result is wonderfully different from mass-produced cider: naturally fruity, gently structured and unmistakably rooted in Somerset.

Perfect With... (click me for the recipe)
- Meat/fish: Somerset pork chops with cider, mustard and caramelised apples
- Vegetarian: Sweetcorn, leek and cheddar tart
- Vegan: Roast squash, sage and hazelnut galette with spiced apple chutney