We are not alone ...!
“Great minds think alike, though fools seldom differ”. Time will tell into which camp we’ll fall but for the present it's reassuring to know we're not alone.
Today is Beaujolais Nouveau day, the third Thursday in November and the first day of the year the wine - made only with Gamay grapes - from this year's harvest is available for sale (to be precise, from one minute past midnight). Drinking fresh, young wine started off as a celebration to mark the end of the harvest (no such luck for cider-makers, in mid-November) and grew into something bigger during the 1950s, when wine merchants began to race eachother to get the wine to Paris quickest. Later, Georges Duboeuf (and others) added some marketing heft to the process and “Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé” became a familiar phrase, not only in France but across the globe; Japan is now the biggest consumer of the wine, followed by Germany and the USA. We in Blighty used to consume 740,000 bottles annually in the heyday of the mid-1990s, but that has now dwindled to around 100,000 bottles.
Ours, and …
And what's all this got to do with cider?
Today we “launched” our pomological equivalent, Disco Nouveau … a cider made with Discovery apples, harvested and processed in August, fermented quickly in early autumn warmth, fermented naturally with wild yeasts only, and bottled as soon as the fermentation had been completed. Not having made a “quick” cider before - much emphasis within #RealCider is placed on how long and slow the whole process is, time necessary to reveal the true complexities and characteristics of the fruit - we were somewhat apprehensive about promoting something made in weeks rather than months or years, a bit nervous about selling such a fresh, vibrant, vigorous cider. We were also a bit pleased with ourselves for being so innovative, for being the first to not only think of Cidre Nouveau but to sell it as well.
… theirs!!
Only to discover, late last night, that Little Pomona has had exactly the same idea! And not only the same idea, but the same idea with the same name. Now the world can buy not one but two Disco Nouveaux!!
And how do we feel about this? In part, relieved; it’s reassuring to know that our thought processes, if wonky, aren't uniquely wonky and are shared by people who are well-known in the cider world, who are respected, who are successful, who are Cider Royalty. In part, excited; with Little Pomona involved, perhaps Disco Nouveau can help raise the profile and awareness of #RealCider, and broaden commercial possibilities, more so that it could or would under our sole stewardship. In part, anxious; was Disco Nouveau a registered trademark, condemning our labels and labelled bottles to the bin and consigning our idea into oblivion? In part, sociable; a connection made, unwittingly and unknowingly, with fellow cider-makers. Irked? Irritated? Perhaps, momentarily, but no longer than that. Experience gained from too many years in the drinks industry demonstrates that all boats float on a rising tide. Overall? We are not alone and we’re smiling.
Perhaps Little Pomona are tampering with the brakes of our Apple Wagon as we write this, but we think not. We've exchanged emails, they've already Tweeted about our Disco Nouveau, and we’ll reciprocate, of course. We look forward to charting an interesting and amicable path with them.
And what of Disco Nouveau, the drink itself? We don’t claim grand things for it. It’s simple, it’s fresh, it’s youthful, it’s vibrant, it’s lively. It’s bone dry and it’ll tingle your taste buds. It’s for sipping and savouring rather than glugging … and it’s about as close as you can get to drinking cider straight from the apple. We don’t (yet) know what Little Pomona’s is like but it’s sure to be delightful and we encourage you to try theirs, too …
Thanks for reading.