NW Cider Society Awards Medals to Six Cidermakers

The Northwest Cider Society has recognized six American and Canadian Cidermakers in the First North American Cider Competition

NORTHWEST CIDER SOCIETY
Contact: John Ross johnross@nwcider.org/206-545-7900
             Ron Irvine ron@nwcider.org/206-463-5538

For Immediate Release

Seattle, November 8, 2003: The Northwest Cider Society has recognized six American and Canadian cidermakers as award winners in its First North American Cider Competition.

The competition was the first of its kind in North America, treating cider as a distinct category, judged by cider specialists, rather than an extension of a beer or wine competition. All of the winners are small artisan" cideries, who produce their ciders from fresh fruit.
The judges tasted a total of 30 ciders made by producers across the United States and Canada. The award winners include:

Gold Medals:
Merridale Traditional Cider, made by Merridale Ciderworks of Cobble Hill British Columbia, Canada
Oliver Beanblossom Hard Cider made by Oliver Winery of Bloomington, Indiana
Westcott Bay Vintage Cider, made by Westcott Bay Orchards of Friday Harbor, Washington

Silver Medal:
White Oak Traditional English Style Cider, made by White Oak Cider of Newberg, Oregon

Bronze Medal:
Rhyne French Style Sparkling Hard Cyder, made by Rhyne Cyder of Sonoma, California

Certificates of Commendation:
Irvines Vintage Blend, made by Irvines Vintage Cider made by Irvines Vintage Cider of Vashon, Washington
Merridale Cidre Normandie, made by Merridale Ciderworks of Cobble Hill, British Columbia, Canada
Merridale Cyser Cider, made by Merridale Ciderworks of Cobble Hill, British Columbia, Canada

The competitions judges were Peter Mitchell of Worcester, England, a cider production consultant and trainer; Dick Dunn of Hygene, Colorado, an amateur cidermaker and organizer of the international Cider Digest" online community; and Jon Rowley of Seattle, a food and beverage consultant.
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