The Apple Pie Trail has a little more bite this year.
The latest addition to the foodie tour highlighting the area’s rich apple history is a craft cider tour, which began yesterday (June 7) and features 11 days of cider and food pairings and seven locally-made ciders.
Patti Kendall, Apple Pie Trail founder and director of marketing for the Blue Mountain Village Foundation, said she was attending a tourism summit last year where representatives from Prince Edward County claimed their area was the premier craft cider producer in Ontario.
Kendall begged to differ and worked with local cider producers to create Ciderfest and the slogan: Cider Grows Here.
Cider, said Kendall, is a natural fit for the Apple Pie Trail.
“It’s local, it’s craft and it’s authentic to the area,” she said.
A series of special events celebrating the Apple Pie Trail Ciderfest kicked off at Georgian Hills Vineyard’s Ardiel Cider House, with a barbecue featuring local sausage paired with three kinds of ciders including a dry cider, a pear cider and a hop cider.
“Cider in the last five years in Ontario is a phenomenal success story,” said Robert Ketchin, co-partner in Georgian Hills Vineyard and one of four partners behind Ardiel Cider House.
Ketchin said Ardiel Cider House uses a blend of apples and they’ve perfected the recipe to make a consistent tasting cider all year long. He said because they have the ability to juice apples at the Ardiel farm, they are able to use apple juice instead of water to dilute the alcohol content in their cider, making it naturally sweet and tasty.
John Ardiel, also a co-owner in Ardiel Cider House and Georgian Hills, said he watched the cider movement come a long way. He said it was an easy decision to start making cider, after all they had all the infrastructure in place due to the ice-wine and winemaking business on the property. They grow 300 acres of apples on the Ardiel farm.
“We pride ourselves that we have a specific recipe,” said Ardiel. “It’s going off even better than anticipated.”
The dry cider is available at the LCBO and the hop and pear ciders are available at local restaurants and bars.
This is Georgian Hills ninth year licensed as a winery. Ardiel Cider House is a partnership between Ketchin, John Ardiel and his sons Greg and Liam. They launched the dry cider and Big John Hop Cider in August 2016.
Big John gets its name from a particularly beloved old and big John Deer tractor in use at the Ardiel farm.
The most recent launch was Victoria, a pear cider made from pears also grown on Ardiel’s farm. It was named after Victoria Corners, the historic intersection nearest the Ardiel farm. It was also launched on Victoria Day weekend, the same day as the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Ciderfest continues until June 17. There is a passport for sale online or at the participating cidery locations for $25 which entitles the bearer to a food and cider pairing at seven local cideries including: Duntroon Cyder House, Beaver Valley Cidery, Coffin Ridge Boutique Winery, Ardiel Cider House, Thornbury Cider House and at the Cheese Gallery where they will be serving Great Canadian Cider Company products.
There will also be special events through the week including barbecues a sunset cruise, dinners, and patio parties. A full list of events is available here.
