Hello, Spring!

OK, let’s be real. The beautiful photo of the apple blossoms above was not taken this year. Most of the trees on Salt Spring Island won’t be in full bloom until early May. At present, a few small, woody little buds on the tips of the trees’ branches are the only hint of the splendour to come in the summer and fall. For now, the island still feels very much in the embrace of winter as we head into March, and the rain and snow probably have a few more tricks up their sleeves for the next couple months ahead.

Nevertheless, it’s easy to sense that the change of seasons is right around the corner. The days are already noticeably longer. In a few weeks, the first substantial waves of visitors will arrive when schools get out for spring break, and then again for the Easter weekend. In about a month the island’s famous Saturday market will start up again for the year too. Here at the cidery, the work of cider making continues as we do our best to get inventories ready for peak season, and our staff are sneaking off for their last winter holidays before we start to settle in and prepare for busier times.

There are some lovely ciders in this season’s shipment. We have the first release of our Pear Cider from the 2025 harvest. As always, this is a true perry, meaning we haven’t added any apples. Instead, it’s made from the fantastic heritage pears we have access to here on Salt Spring Island, many of which were originally bred for perry production. The unfermentable sugars in pears lend it a gentle sweetness, even while it’s otherwise semi-dry in character. We only had a small harvest in 2024, making last year’s perry release a small one. 2025 was a big crop, however, so we’re excited to be able to have a nice plentiful batch for 2026’s releases.

We also have a first look at our Orchard Run Pét Nat made from our 2025 harvest. As the little orchard we’ve planted here at the cidery continues to grow and mature, we’ve begun making an annual estate cider from its apples. Most of the Salt Spring apples that go into our ciders come from farms and trees all around the island, as we do a lot of gleaning of unique old trees that are part of Salt Spring's rich apple producing history. While we get some really fun, funky, and unique heritage cider apples, it can sometimes be a little more luck of the draw as to what we get from our neighbours and partner orchards. Our own orchard is something we have been able to curate more tightly, selecting some of our favourite apple varieties for cider making. These include Yarlington Mill, Orange Cox Pippin, Calville Blanc, Northern Spy, Golden Russet, Porter's Perfection, Chisel Jersey, and Foxwhelp. Since the plan is to make this an annual release, it's an invitation to taste how the cider from this little micro-terroir changes and develops with each year. The cider in this shipment is still fairly young, so you can expect a bright, somewhat sharp character that will mellow over the coming months. You might get another bottle later in the year, so you’ll also get to see how it matures and develops over time. See what you think.

In addition, we’re taking a look back at our Apple Gamay, which was originally released in 2024. We co-fermented a cider made from Belle de Boskoop and Wolf River apples with a little bit (about 5% by volume) Gamay grapes from a friend’s garden here on the island. It was a slow, cool fermentation with native yeasts, and it was carbonated naturally using the ancestral method. It was bottled and aged sur lies for a couple of years now, and it’s matured nicely.

Once again, we’re again inviting you to pick half of the ciders in your shipment. Just click on the button at the bottom of the page to go to our special Cider Club shop where you can make your selections for this shipment.

Best wishes for a beautiful spring, thanks for your continued patronage, and cheers!