Wild Arc Farm 'Sweetheart' Sparkling Cider 2023, Hudson Valley, New York

Todd and Crystal are lifetime New Yorkers, having been born in central New York and spending most of their adult lives in Brooklyn. After finding the farmhouse of their dreams on a former perennial nursery in the upstate New York town of Pine Bush, they gradually shifted to a full-time farming mode.

The Sweatheart cider was pressed directly into tanks containing spent red grape pomace that had already been pressed for wine and then soaked and pressed again for Piquette. After 4 weeks in tanks, we pressed the juice into neutral French oak barrels where it aged for 4 months. Bottled with local wildflower honey to referment in bottle. Unfined, unfiltered, zero SO2 added.

Sweetheart is again a blend of Macintosh, Idared, and Golden Russet apples aged entirely on Cabernet Sauvignon skins. It’s bright and beautiful as always, with a nose of red and tropical fruit, and still maintains the bright acidity of our past versions.  Like pink Hawaiian Punch: tart, refreshing, and tropical. -Winemaker's Notes