Ross-On-Wye Traditional Farmhouse Still Perry

For the final in my series of British Real Ciders, we visit the small town of Ross-On-Wye to sample their Traditional Farmhouse Medium Sweet Still Perry. Yeah it’s a bit of a mouth full of a name.

After the success of last weeks Perry by Willie Smiths, I thought I would crack open this British Perry. Ross-On-Wye is half way between Gloucester and Hereford near the Welsh border. The Broome Farm grows a huge of apples and pears for the cider company. The Farmhouse Still Perry, for example, has over 30 varieties of pears at its disposal, blended to get a constant product.

There is no yeast added to those pears. All the yeast here is wild, picked up from on the wind in the orchard or around the cider mill.

The Nose

There is almost no smell here at all. At a real stretch there is that musty farmhouse scent but its only detectable by a crack team of airport sniffer dogs.

The Taste

First thing to say it’s a still cider, which if your like me and are used to effervescent ciders is a bit of an odd thing. It has the mouth feel of a very soft white wine. Which has an interesting effect. You naturally want to take small sips. To get the most of this Perry you need a bigger mouthful to really coat your tongue. This reveals a very smooth sweetness working in harmony with a slight acidity followed by a touch of bitterness.

The finish is long and lingering with residual sweetness. Over all it’s pretty easy to drink.

Final Thoughts the Farmhouse Still Perry

The hallmark of this Perry is that soft smooth taste. The fruitiness of the Perry is similar to a Riesling but because of the lower alcohol its on another level of softness.  So for those of you looking for a low alcohol white wine this would be a great alternative.

As I drink more Perry, I learn more about them and appreciate them. The still Perry format does appeal to me a little more that the bubbly ones. Ross-On-Wye uses it to set it apart as a higher quality product than 90% of the other sweet Perry’s on the market.

Don’t forget to get your Real Cider Reviews merch