Pilton Cider, Tamoshanta, Somerset, England, 2022

Producer Profile

Based in the cider heartland of Somerset, where sun-dappled orchards have been producing high-quality cider for generations,

Pilton makes an exciting range of whole juice ciders using the artisan method of ‘keeving’. The process uses only cider apples; no water, no sugar, just patience and develop sublime creations that have as much in common with the winemaking process as anything focusing on the use of wild yeasts, cold cellars and bottle fermentation. Pilton was started in 2010 by Martin Berkely and uses apples from high-quality, Somerset orchards, planted in the 60s and 70s, to produce this most traditional and evocative of local beverages.

Viticulture

Fruit is from traditional cider orchards, planted in the 1960s and 1970s for commercial production but now only retained for biodiversity & landscape. The low nutrients produce low yields with small fruits and intense flavours. Varieties are Somerset origin, bittersweet, low in acidity with medium tannin.

Winemaking

The keeving method utilises low nutrients for an incomplete fermentation, thus retaining natural fruity apple sweetness. Long slow cool fermentation promotes complexity from a succession of indigenous yeasts. After initial fermentation the young cider is transferred to freshly emptied whisky barrels, where it ferments slowly for another six weeks

Oak Ageing

Time: 6 Weeks
Type: 200 Litre Whisky Barrels
% wine oaked: 60
% new oak: 0

Tasting Note

A nose of honey and toffee apples, with a hint of wood and leather, is lifted by the prickly carbonation. Soft, peachy juice kicks in on the palette with the sugar rounding out the body and softening each flavour, before it finishes off with a gentle bitterness and tannic touch.

Food Matching

Tamoshanta is great served chilled, with Somerset Cheddar.