Once upon a bike ride, a gravelly puddle became the site of an injured lower leg. Recovering from the grazed knee, over a glass of local cider, we wondered whether we too could produce something so delicious and refreshing. We found ourselves an plot surrounded by the Isle of Wight’s outstanding natural beauty, planted our 250 trees, assembled our cidery in a cave under St Boniface Down, gathered knowledge from the traditional sources of the Three Counties and the West Country and got down to work. Grazed Knee Cider was born.

The Cider

Our orchard is planted with a collection of local island apple varieties including Isle of Wight Pippin, Sir John Thorneycroft, the massive Howgate Wonder, Bembridge Beauty and Little Pax, and classic bittersweet and bittersharp cider varieties including Dabinett, Stoke Red, Kingston Black, Foxwhelp and Yarlington Mill, along with varieties with names we could not resist, Liberty, Fillabarrel, Slack ma Girdle, Sops in Wine, Helen’s, Katy, Bulmer’s Norman, Gilly, American Mother and Porter’s Perfection. We blend together juice from the apples to provide the best mix of acidity and tannins for good fermentation in small batches in the cool conditions of our cave, and let the yeast do the rest, slowly but surely. When the time is right and not before, we bottle the cider.

How to enjoy

Our cider is refreshing, fruity and balanced, with earthy and spicy notes. The sharpness complements food with good fat content such as cheese, pork and fish. The fruitiness enhances fried, grilled and roasted main courses and desserts.