Quick Hits: Manoir du Kinkiz Cornouaille Cidre

I stopped into Acme Wines & Spirits  on the way home from work. I ended up with a bottle of Manoir du Kinkiz Cornouaille Cidre from Brittany, France.

Acme has little write-ups on all their bottles, here’s how they describe it:

This was a slightly sweeter cider, but there was definitely a nice “earthiness” that balanced it out. It’s also very carbonated; the cork exploded off the first time I tried this. The guy at Acme who was helping me said he put a dent in his apartment cieling opening this cider, so be careful with this stuff! It is worth the potential injury, though, for some great French cider.

Cider blog All About Cider was taken with it as well, judging by this paragraph:

BAM!! That’s how the bittersweet tannins hit you when you take that first mouthful. It was like you where thrown into a fighter jet and hit top speed in matter of seconds. Your lips and the insides of your mouth immediately grip onto your teeth like superglue to wood. But in saying this though, it was crazily addictive. The tannins were high yes, but beautifully powdery and super fine. There was a stunning rich upfront sweetness, which was not cloying or heavy from the super ripe apples used. The palate was all tied in with a nice level of mild acidity. The apple notes along with the brett, carried onto the palate which made the whole experience very authentic.

(Image via Woodland Wine Merchant)

Since this was from Brittany, it would probably be the type of cider they’d serve with crepes (crêpes and hard cider is a thing in Europe, in case you weren’t aware).

I love crepes.

Quick Hits: Longueville House Cider

We picked this bottle of Longueville House Cider up from a reliable source of good cider, Acme Wines & Spirits.

Longueville House Cider is 100% Natural, handmade medium dry Irish Cider from our orchards in the Blackwater Valley, County Cork.

I read that the cider is made from Dabinett and Michelin apples. I’ve been reading up a bit on apple varities lately. Interesting stuff. Just picked up some Jonagolds from the farmer’s market.

About the Dabinett (from Wikipedia):

Classed as a “bittersweet” cider apple, Dabinett has small, yellow-green fruit flecked with red, usually harvested in November in theUnited Kingdom.

The fruit is of sufficient quality to make a single varietal cider, and a number of commercial cider manufacturers produce ciders made solely or primarily with Dabinett apples, including The Tricky Cider Co, Thatchers and Sheppy’s.

I’ve heard of Thatchers, but haven’t had the chance to try it yet. Another one to add to the list.

As for the Michelin, Claude Jolicoeur says:

In England the Michelin is not considered a variety of high quality but useful for its regular and heavy cropping.

We found the Longueville House to be delightful. Nice golden color, a little fizzy, tart, earthy and delicious.

We also picked up a bottle of Slyboro Black Currant Cider from Acme, but we haven’t cracked that one open yet…