FAQs
Cider—often called “hard cider” in the United States—is made by fermenting the juice of apples or other pome fruits.
It has a long and venerable history both in Europe and the Americas. By carefully choosing apple varieties and guiding fermentation cider makers can create a dazzling array of styles.
Like wine, apples and cider are deeply intertwined in the Finger Lakes, where many of the finest orchards grow fruit for drinking rather than eating.
General Info
About the Apples and Growers in the Finger Lakes Region of New York.
Home to many cider producers, as well as some of the leading apple research institutions in the world, the cider culture in the Finger Lakes is vibrant and highly influential.
Millennia ago, glaciers carved a series of rivers into deep gorges and valleys that filled with water as the ice receded. The long lakes that dominate the Finger Lakes landscape, in addition to the larger Lake Ontario, act as heat sinks, moderating the climate, delaying spring past the threat of frost and pushing warm weather deep into the calendar. The lakes help fruit growers mitigate some of the worst threats of climate change.
In the decades after, European settlers brought their own apples from New England and other points east to the well-drained glacial till soils. These soils were formed by the sediment deposited by the glaciers that gouged out the river valleys that formed the Finger Lakes 10,000 years ago.
The Finger Lakes is home to the USDA Apple Germplasm in Geneva, one the largest collections of apples in the world. The collection includes over 6,079 samples ranging from early North American heirlooms, to English and Spanish cider apples, wild apples from Central Asia, Turkey and even Bhutan.
Apple varieties like Empire, Cortland, Jonagold, Spigold, Redfield and Macoun were developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, now named Cornell AgriTech, joining other famous New York apples like Northern Spy, Newtown Pippin and Esopus Spitzenburg
Cider in the Finger Lakes would not be where it is today if not for the groundwork laid by prior generations of apple and grape growers and the wineries that now line the shores of the lakes. Cider may have been built upon the wine roadmap, but it has developed its own unique voice, style and personality that has stretched past all expectations. Finger Lakes cider is a constantly evolving and redefining category that should be at the forefront of every cider lover’s mind.
Did you know that ciders can range in flavor?
Did you know that ciders can range in flavor from fresh and crisp to a toasted, warmed flavor reminiscent of a baked apple?
Just like wine, cider can run the gamut from sweet to very dry, and the flavor profile can help you determine whether it's best enjoyed as a happy hour glass or alongside a full meal. Visit our Cider Education page to learn more about heritage cider.
