Heaven for cider lovers

I think we have very thirsty angels at Ampleforth; they take around three per cent of our cider brandy every year". About 20 miles north of York at the Benedictine monastery of Ampleforth Abbey, Father Rainer is in charge of the apple orchards and the wonderful products made from them – cider, cider liqueur and cider brandy.

He seems quite happy that part of his precious apple spirit evaporates each year. This loss through the pores of the wooden casks during maturation is a key factor in the making of all spirits, from cognac to Scotch whisky, and it is known as the Angel's Share. Given the peace and tranquillity of the Abbey and its surroundings I am surprised that there is not an even larger congregation of angels in this valley, all helping themselves to the delicious, aged cider brandy.

There have been orchards at Ampleforth Abbey since it was founded in 1802 and over the years they have expanded and now there are 2,200 trees covering the slopes around the monastery. Originally planted to provide food and refreshment for the monks and their school pupils, these are dessert apples, selected to ripen between August and December, giving a continuous stream of fresh apples. There are 70 varieties, although only 49 are in use and, when gathered together they provide a rainbow of colours, from the deep red of a juicy Gravenstein to the pale yellow of sweet-tasting Greensleeves.

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Over the years the orchards became neglected and when Father Rainer took over managing the beehives which were lodged in the orchards he was also asked to think about what to do with the apples. "We tried a 'Pick your Own' system, with an honesty box so that people could help themselves, but our apples are not smooth skinned, regular-sized apples that you get in supermarkets. In the end we had to come up with something that we could make from them", he said.

Cider seemed the answer, even though these are dessert apples, not the particular bitter apples that cider is usually made from. With the help of a cider press seemingly cobbled together in a woodworking class, Father Rainer set about making cider. The first year was a great success, not least because the apples had been left to mature. "The alcohol level was 14 per cent," said Fr Rainer with a smile. "It was only then I learnt that there was a requirement for cider to be below 8.5 per cent alcohol, but the monks enjoyed drinking it and the next year we learnt how to make cider with the right level of alcohol."

Ampleforth cider is real cider. It comes in chunky litre bottles with a light sludge at the bottom made up of working yeast which gives the cider its light fizz as you open the bottle. Deliciously apply, with real texture and length, it is the first cider I have tasted that seems to have been made to go with food. I drank it with Fr Rainer's favourite dish, appropriately called Heaven and Earth, a mixture of mashed potatoes and apple, topped with black pudding and it backed the flavours of the dish perfectly.

Once the production of cider had been mastered, and now equipped with a more robust press and several tall, black fermentation vats, Fr Rainer decided that cider brandy was the next logical step. But there is no still at Ampleforth. "There are all kinds of problems in having your own still, so I take my cider to Somerset where it is distilled and then returned to Yorkshire for ageing."

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The cider brandy is matured in French oak barriques, and until now there has just been a three-year-old brandy which is pale, delicate and smooth, with the flavour of apples shining through. Now there is a five-year-old cider brandy, newly launched on the market and this is elegantly supple, with real complexity, yet still pure with the delicate taste of crisp English apples. It is pale in the glass. "No caramel adjustment?" I asked. The look from Father Rainer said it all. "The cider brandy makes itself. It is its own natural colour."

And that really explains the style of all these products. They go back to genuine provenance and artisan production. The apples are handpicked – all 15 tons of them, although there is talk of getting a tree shaker to gently shake the apples out of the trees. The apples are hand tipped into the mill, then loaded into the "new" cider press which would probably be quite at home in a museum. The apple juice is fermented by wild yeasts, although it is carefully monitored – after all Father Rainer has somewhat of a scientific background, having been a trauma surgeon at a West Midlands hospital before answering his vocation to be a monk. Maturation, bottling and selling the cider are all small-scale operations. This can never be a mass market product. It is for that reason that you have to go to specialist shops such as Weeton's in Harrogate and York Beer and Wine Shop to buy it, and at up to 8 a litre it is probably the most expensive cider you will have come across, but it really is delicious and well worth the investment.

The three-year-old cider brandy can also be bought at various outlets around the county such as Harvey Nichols and Weeton's (about 12.50 for 20cl) and the excellent five-year-old cider brandy is gradually making its way out into shops and restaurants. It will cost about 40 for a standard size bottle.

There is also an apple liqueur, called Amber, made from a blend of cider and cider brandy, selling for about 20 for a 50cl bottle and two types of gin, sloe and damson, both hand made from fruit harvested in the surrounding hillsides. All the products, apart from cider are available on the website www.ampleforth.org.uk/acatalog/ but the best way to get hold of them is to go and visit the Abbey.

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The people you meet there are genuinely welcoming, even if all you want to do is have a cup of tea, buy something in the shop or talk about wine to the jolly Father Jeremy behind the counter. He also runs wine retreats which sound fascinating. You can visit the orchards most weekday afternoons and the cider mill, although you are advised to check with Father Rainer (orchard@ampleforth.org.uk) in advance.

Part of the philosophy at Ampleforth is "outreach" to let people know what the Abbey does and to be part of the community. It is a lovely, peaceful, working monastery, so tread quietly and don't wake the angels on your way out – they may have been drinking.

YP MAG 16/10/10

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