In the midst of a busy bottling schedule, we’re making time for our favorite orchard task…pruning!

This week we’ve put our Cloudsplitter and our first ever Kingston Black single varietal into bottles, now the job is to keep them warm enough to get through second fermentation in the bottle.  The second fermentation will give these ciders their exquisite fine bubbles…ready to drink by early May. Woohoo!  We’ve also been busy making changes to some of our labels, including a back panel and more information for you cider drinkers out there!  Get ready to see apple variety percentages, residual sugar levels, tasting notes, and food pairing suggestions on your bottles of 2013 Redbyrd Orchard Ciders.  AND get ready to find us in  more locations, including a few select spots in NYC!!!! 2013 was a good year to us and now we have a bit more cider to share with all of you.

But the only way any of this cider is possible is with the diligent, experienced, and thoughtful care of our orchards.  And in the winter months, this means pruning.  Weekends for our family are built around pruning most of each day, after a hearty breakfast, with little breaks for sledding, snowboarding, and hot cocoa.  Luckily, believe it or not, pruning in this cold weather is Eric’s favorite orchard work.  Even after spending his work week as Cornell University’s Research Farms and Orchard Manager,  Eric is eager to cheer us on and pull on his coveralls and grab his sunglasses and head out back with us to our own trees.  We couldn’t be happier…Here’s to the orchard, even in the coldest of times!!!