If you are looking for terroir in the UK. It’s not in the vineyards, it’s in the orchards.

That’s not to say that there’s not some great wines being made here, but in terms of history and national culture they simply can’t hold a candle to the heritage of apple growing we have here. A heritage that is woefully underappreciated by ‘connoisseurs’ who can talk about the lieux-dits of Burgundy or Jura but not the heritage of their own country. People like me that is.

So I was blown away by a recent visit to Will Chambers’ Smith Hayne Orchards in Devon, where he makes a tiny amount of glorious cider that may make you think about the category in a whole new way.

Currently the orchards have 13 different cider varieties: Tremletts Bitter, Dabinett, Browns, Chisel Jersey, Porters Perfection, Brown Snout, Fillbarrel, Michelin, Sweet Coppin, Yarlington Mill, Harry Masters Jersey, Lambrook Pippin and Stembridge Cluster, as well as walnut, plum, cherry, Bramley, Katy, Reinette d’Obry and Charles Ross. Only 3000 bottles per year are produced from his old 12 acre orchard, planted in an L-shape around the farm. It is hard to convey just how hands-on and artisanal this way of production is. Each apple and bottle has been touched many times.

Everything here is done manually. Harvesting the apples, washing, bottling and labelling. The ciders are unfiltered and unpasteurised. No sugar or yeast is added, with the exception being the Methode Traditionelle (yellow) which is made using the champagne method and so requires yeast and sugar dosage. The orchards are unsprayed and the grass is looked-after by sheep.

Devon was making cider from at least 1280 and was once comparable in terms of production to Somerset and Herefordshire – but now for various reasons declined over the last 200 years, perhaps because what consolidation there was couldn’t rival the big brands like Thatchers, Westons or Bulmers.

Forget about chugging it back – Poured into a wine-glass, it really is an absolutely thrilling counterpoint to pet-nat wines and Champagnes at a fraction of the price and alcohol, and perfect for outside dining and drinking. The ciders being made here are incredibly well-balanced with a touch of tannin, which creates a much more sculptural style then people might be used to. The Petillant Natural method of carbonation gives a really attractive texture and helps balance the natural sweetness from the apples.

I can feel my divining rods twitching right now seeing a new-wave of ambition in small-production English wine and Cider. Producers who have been influenced by the natural wine movement in France and the market for those styles in larger cities. Why can’t fine English Cider confidently assert itself in that context?

Will is a keen wine-lover as well as leading cider-maker, and I think it shows in his cider, as he has a much broader sense of what is possible, to look not just back at the historic methods of the English but draw on the lessons of the crafty French and their genius for vinification. To this end he even has a few Francois Freres barrels, the tonneliere of choice of Domaine de la Romanee Conti and Armand Rousseau, which he uses for some of his blends, although they are a bugger to keep clean it seems.

Adam Wells of the Cider Review puts it well when he says: “The ciders that Anne and William are bottling at this tiny Devon operation easily stand company with the very best in the UK. “Part of me almost doesn’t want to share the secret when there’s so little to go round. But mainly it’s an absolute pleasure to tell you all about one of the UK’s true, hidden greats. Buy whatever Smith Hayne you come across – in 2021 I expect they won’t remain an inside-tip for long.”

“Each cider I have tried from Smith Hayne has been exceptional,” echoes Cider Voice’s Ben Thompson.

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