The countdown begins for nervous entrants to the 2016 Australian Cider Awards as judges prepare to ‘blind’ taste an exciting selection of ciders and perries from Australia, the US, UK, Ireland, Spain and New Zealand.
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California Cider Competition & MASICC Announce Winners for 2016 Competitions
The public is invited to taste the hard cider winners and pairings at the Mendocino County Fair & Apple Show, September 17 and 18 Boonville, CA (September 9, 2016) The 3rd annual California Cider Competition, the state’s only cider contest, announced the winners of its 2016 challenge.
The competition award results are: Read More
By now you probably know my feelings on what happens when winemakers make cider. The results can be, well, boring. So you can imagine my delight when a good friend gave me a bottle of Winemakers Cider Co Granny Smith Cider. But I will give it my due diligence. Read More
Flying Brick Pear Cider is the latest member of this Bellarine cider house’s line up. A crystal clear 4.9% Pear cider, that shows off some of Victoria’s best pears.
Cider Australia has called on the Federal Government to refocus its Wine Equalisation Tax. In Australia, the WET tax is designed to help small local producers compete against the big players in the market. This is a tax of 29% of the wholesale value of wine. Currently Aussie wine, cider and perry producers are eligible for a rebate of up to AU$500,000 on the tax. For the big players this is “nice to have”. Not having it isn’t going to kill them. For the smaller players with a handful of staff this is the only way they can compete.
As it stands all Cider makers (excluding fruit ciders) are eligible. The Australian Government is trying to reduce the cost of the rebate to the Federal Budget. So Cider Australia is proposing to exclude cider makers who use imported juice or concentrate. The theory is if you want the rebate you must buy your juice from Australian growers. This will ensure the tax dollars from the rebate say in the Aussie economy. As the biggest players take the most rebate while using imported concentrate this adjustment would be a big saving. Craft Cider producers do not claim anywhere near the maximum $500,000 as they just don’t sell the volume.
Full Cider Australia press release after the break
A couple of weeks ago, I was at the CAMRA’s Scottish Real Ale Festival, of course there was a cider section. I had to try the newly released all Scottish, Morning Cider by Scottish Ciders. Read More
Ramborn Cider is not a one cider show. The CM Blend shows off the apples unique to Luxembourg with the bulk of the CM Blend Cider being made up of the Rambo Apple. The CM Blend is the signature cider made by Ramborn Cider. Check out It shows off all the cider making knowledge gained when the cider maker traveled to UK to learn the craft. Read More