Rose Hill Farm 'Kitchen Sink' Cider 2020

Rose Hill Farm, in northern Dutchess County, traces its history back to 1798. Owned and run as a fruit orchard by the Fraleigh family for two centuries, the farm eventually expanded to include cherries, blueberries, peaches, raspberries, pumpkins, and winter squash in addition to apples. Bruce and Holly Brittain, along with Chris Belardi, purchased the farm from Dave and Karen Fraleigh and have maintained the Pick-Your-Own orchards since, while shifting to holistic growing practices and starting Rose Hill Ferments. Their line of wines, ciders, and multi-fruit co-fermentations began in January 2020, and their taproom barn space opened later that year. In a very short time, Rose Hill’s experiments with natural fermentation, long macerations, and skin contact have earned a dedicated following. ‘Kitchen Sink’ is the premier cider release from Rose Hill: a delicious blend of heirloom, bittersweet, and culinary apples from both their own orchards in the Hudson Valley as well as the Finger Lakes. Bone dry, it displays a generous nose of honeyed golden apples (almost evoking a chenin blanc), while on the palate it offers up more succulent yellow fruit, with earthy, yeasty hints. It is fermented with wild yeast in pet-nat style (bottled before primary fermentation finishes to yield a natural sparkle) and is bottled unfiltered and unfined with no added sulfites.