A HEREFORDSHIRE independent cider-maker is celebrating the release of its new vintage.

Little Pomona Cidery, near Bromyard, has unveiled the 2021 vintage of its flagship cider ‘Art of Darkness’.

The company said the beverage is produced with a selection of the best fruit from the producer's home orchard. It added the drink plays with the influence of oak, with each vintage offering up a different impression related to the quality and flavours of the original apples. The 2021 is reported as being elegant, harmonious and, with its balance of freshness, fruit and softened tannins, a highly gastronomic cider.

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The 2021 is said to pair well with a variety of dishes, ranging from baked fish in a paprika-laced sauce to roasted courgette gratin, or simply, a block of aged cheddar.

"Art of Darkness centres around Ellis Bitter, one of the four varieties that we grow, plus long ageing, almost exclusively in ex-spirit barrels," said James Forbes, co-founder and chief cidermaker.

"Why? Well, Ellis Bitter, as the name suggests is an apple rich in tannins. Not the soft, mouth-filling kind like in, say, Yarlington Mill, but harder and actually quite bitter – just not what we are looking for in our ciders. That makes it an obvious candidate for the barrel where, through the very slow process of micro-oxidation, typically a year or more, the tannin levels diminish, and soften, eventually losing their bitterness.

 "Surely though if you leave cider in ex-spirit barrels for a year it’s just going to taste of whatever was in the barrels before? Well, that’s the fascinating thing! The evolution of the cider in barrel begins as you would expect, with lots of spiritous aromas and flavours but gradually the fruit begins to stage a comeback.

 "If you’re brave and wait long enough, the result becomes something wonderfully harmonious,"

"In which there is no dividing line between barrel and fruit. It's utterly seamless. Nor has the cider become dense and heavy with booziness, remaining bright and fresh and wholly reflective of the fruit that went into it. Honestly, it’s a little miracle!"