Sparkling Success for Once upon a Tree

Once Upon A Tree have gained first place in the Best Bottle Fermented Cider or Perry category at the International Cider and Perry Competition held last week at the Hereford Cider Museum with their 2008 vintage Ribston Lawn Sparkling Perry.

“This was the first time I had ever attempted to make a perry,” explains Cider Maker Simon Day “there is a lot of mystery surrounding perry production and it is certainly more challenging than cider making, but by using wine making techniques, and following traditional Champagne methods, we achieved the best expression of flavours and fizz - delivered with elegance and finesse.”

Ribston Lawn was launched in October last year to critical acclaim, but with limited numbers available this vintage is unlikely to be available for too much longer.

“We have more from the 2009 harvest, but it takes 12 months ageing on yeast lees in bottle to reach a perfect balance of fruit and bready, brioche notes, and we won’t be tempted to rush things through.” adds Simon “So come and get it while you still can!”

The Ribston Lawn Sparkling Perry is an unusual and rather special alternative to Champagne or sparkling wine and has already been selected to be served at a number of foodie weddings, particularly for those looking to source good food and drink locally. Simon continues to innovate by using wine making techniques to produce wine style ciders, particularly suited to food pairing

Majority Of Winemakers Living in the Past

The majority of world winemakers are failing to take advantage of the infinite possibilities the Internet and new media can offer.

That is the view of Ryan Opaz, the founder of Catavino Marketing, who was speaking at The 30th Anniversary Conference, ahead of the London International Wine Fair.

Mr Opaz, who runs the Barcelona-based wine agency, told a packed audience of wine producers at the London ExCel that common new media tools - like online video streaming, blogs, Facebook and Twitter - were a vital way of capturing extra business. And he warned that those who failed to embrace these tools would be left lagging behind.

He told Harpers Wine & Spirit: “Wine producers are still way behind the times, they are still using faxes and they don’t exist in the real world - but email does.”The big problem that wine producers have is that in reality most people don’t know who they are.

“They are too vain and think they are too important.”They talk about themselves as if everybody’s life should revolve around their brand.”What they should be doing is putting on the bottle ‘this is my wine and if you have a question then send me an email’.”It is sad that the wine industry is so behind the times.

“There are wineries that are making big changes, but they are in the minority.”Wine producers should be talking to the consumer, not the critic, that’s the thrust of the problem.”