Graviva! is our homage to the beleaguered, beautiful Gravenstein, which was Sonoma County’s main agricultural crop until post-WWII, when imported apples and eventually the wine industry put the squeeze on growers. Now there are around 600 acres left in cultivation, down from a few thousand just a couple of decades ago. It’s a blend of 50% Gravs with 50% heirloom and cider apples, including Hubbardston Nonesuch (a low-tannin, low-acid sweet from 1830s Massachusetts) and Nehou (a high-tannin, low-acid bittersweet from 1920s France), all organically grown on Sonoma County farms. It’s a lightly effervescent, bright, crisp cider with refreshing acidity, slight floral aroma, and a touch of sweetness and tannin.

We hand-washed, sorted, ground, and pressed the apples from August to October 2012 at our small cidery in west Sonoma County. Then Scott sent the juice onto a cool, slow fermentation in small batches until late March 2012. Our process is more akin to white wine production; the long fermentation allows the cider to develop more nuance and aromatics, which may be lost in a fast, hot ferment. Then Scott blended it, aged it for a month, then began bottling by hand. We released Graviva! in early May, for a total of 400 gallons.