Coterie 2021: Merlot & Jejune

Last fall, we brought in some freshly pressed apple cider from a few orchards in the Hudson Valley. We let the juice ferment naturally, without any yeast or anything else added to it. After most of the cider was fermented, we transferred it to freshly emptied Valley Beer barrels to finish a long, slow secondary fermentation with our house microbes.

After 8 months in the barrels, the cider was bone-dry, brightly acidic, funky and fruit-forward. After blending select barrels, we carbonated Jejune in the bottle with local wildflower honey for an effervescent, champagne-like cider.

Before bottling, a portion of Jejune was blended with the last few barrels of cider from our 2020 collaboration with our co-fermenting friends at Shacksbury and transferred on top of the pomace from our 2020 pressing of Finger Lakes Merlot grapes. Coterie 2021, bottle conditioned with local wildflower honey, is a funky, sparkling blend of cider and wine.