William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Cider from Eastern Washington, land of apples and sunshine.  You may equate Washington with handcrafted wine and micro breweries, but it is rapidly becoming the land of fresh pressed apple cider. Hard apple cider, you know, with alcohol. Last month I was in Seattle for Taste Washington , where I not only enjoyed wondrous wine but several Washington hard ciders. Some of the tastiest ciders were made by farmer Craig Campbell of Tieton Cider Works. His ciders are made from a blend of American, English and French cider varietals, grown on his organically farmed ranch, Harmony Orchards in Tieton, Washington. Tieton Cider Works first commercial release was in 2009. Why are these ciders so interesting? Many varietal reasons. There's a long history of making cider in America, it was once more popular than beer, wine or whiskey. Yes, that's what Johnny Appleseed was planting, seeds for apple cider trees. Apple cider, by many accounts, was first made by the Celts and Normans beca...

Apple wine featured at Taste Washington Seattle. At this years Taste Washington I was exposed to a lot of great wine, but one of the delights for me this year was not just wine and food, but Washington cider. I like cider, but it has not been a beverage often consumed at home. To my surprise, there's a growing number of cideries setting up shop in Washington. As evidence, there were three Washington cideries pouring hard cider at Taste Washington Seattle. And boy was it good and well received. Learning about Finnriver Farm and Cidery at Taste Washington Seattle. I sampled all the ciders offered by Finnriver Farm and Cidery, Methow Valley Ciderhouse and Tieton Cider Works. These cideries had an array of styles, from the stark, bone dry, the slightly sweet, to the super sweet and even fruit and hops flavored ciders. Truly a cider for every palate and occasion. I enjoyed the break from drinking wine to savoring a cool, sparkling and refreshing cider. There's even enough ...