The quintessential fall libation, hard cider is the apple of our eye.
With the first crisp, cool days of fall comes the urge to go apple-picking, along with the craving for fresh-pressed apple cider. The most common beverage in colonial America (when water wasn’t always safe to drink), cider—specifically hard cider—has been enjoying a resurgence in the past decade. Effervescent artisanal hard cider pairs well with a Thanksgiving feast, and you can seek it out on a day trip to these cideries in South Carolina, western North Carolina, and north Georgia.
Fall Cider Guide
Reece’s Cider Company
When you grow up working in your parents’ apple orchard, it’s not surprising when you launch a career making cider.
That’s the case for Taner Reece, who opened a cidery and tasting room across from his parents’ 250-acre apple orchard in Ellijay, Georgia. “I worked in the orchard for years,” says Reece, “and customers started asking for hard cider.” In September 2021, he and his wife, Sarah, answered the call and opened Reece’s Cider Company. There, they press and ferment both dry and sweet hard cider from a mix of tart and sweet heirloom and dessert apples harvested on his parents’ farm. Among their eight homemade ciders, fan favorites are an off-dry Ellijay Apple, a sweet Georgia Peach, and Reece’s Reserve, a completely dry cider aged three months in bourbon barrels.
After sampling Reece’s ciders in the tasting room, you can pick apples in the B.J. Reece Orchard, right across the street.
Reece’s Cider Company, 9110 Hwy 52, Ellijay, GA. Open year-round. (706) 635-2775, reecescidercompany.com
Flat Rock Cider Company
Local ingredients are key at Flat Rock Cider Company.
“A lot of people don’t know that Henderson County is the ninth-largest apple-producing county in North America,” says Mike Mast, Flat Rock Cider’s general manager. “So we have lots of apples at our back door and we currently source up to fifteen different varieties of apples from thirteen local farmers.” According to the company’s mantra, “orchard to the glass,” all their fruit is pressed, fermented, and packaged by hand in one facility. Following this summer’s big move, that one facility is now five times larger than the original, allowing the team to ramp up production. When Flat Rock’s new tasting room opens next spring, they’ll be adding to the six different types of ciders they currently make, and experimenting with dryer and funkier ciders. They also plan to start a barrel-aged-cider program.
“We’re going to hit the full spectrum of cider,” Mast says.
Flat Rock Cider Company, 925 Upward Rd, Flat Rock, NC. (828) 393-4676, flatrockcidercompany.com
Appalachian Ridge Artisan Cidery
Allen Ward’s heart is rooted in the land he grew up on in Henderson County, North Carolina, where he still farms.
This land is also where he started Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards in 2008 and Appalachian Ridge Artisan Cidery six years later. The transition to crafting cider was a natural one, as “the process is the same as making wine,” Ward says. He learned to produce artisanal cider in the Pays d’Auge region of Normandy, the cradle of cider-making in France. Aiming to produce “a world-class cider,” Ward turns out his juice in the traditional dry French style. The complex flavor profile results from blending seven to eight different varieties of heirloom apples encompassing bitter, sharp, sweet, and bittersweet notes. Appalachian Ridge cider is only available in the renovated c. 1930s apple barn that serves as the tasting room.
Make it a point to stop by for a cider flight, and take a tour of the orchards while you’re there.
749 Chestnut Gap Rd, Hendersonville, NC. Open year-round. (828) 699-7507, saintpaulfarms.com/appalachian-ridge-hard-cider
Windy Hill Orchards and Cidery
Carrying on a family tradition of picking apples each fall in their home state of New Jersey, Fritz and Catherine Gusmer took up cider-making after moving to York, South Carolina, in 1978.
Proving that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, their youngest son, Matthew, now runs Windy Hill Orchard and Cider Mill, where he presses fresh cider using fruit from the family’s seven acres of apple trees. Windy Hill offers six different styles of hard cider at their roadside open-air cider bar. “We try to make something for every palate,” notes Matthew, who focuses on heirloom Stayman Winesaps as the core of his cider. While his personal favorite is Run of the Mill, their driest cider, other options include sweet Blueberry Cider, Ginger Gold, a semi-dry pub-style cider, and dry-hopped Hoppin’ Johnny. \
This fall, Windy Hill’s cider flights will include seasonal Rusty Gold, a fermented libation that echoes the flavors of spiced wassail.
Windy Hill Orchard & Cider Mill, 1860 Black Hwy (Rte 5), York. Open mid-Aug–Christmas. (803) 684-0690, windyhillorchard.com
