Radius 2019 Trend Predictions: Co-Fermentations

When is a wine a cider, and a cider a wine? Hybrid wine, beer and cider products that defy easy categorisation are on the rise

From apples to grapes, wort to pears, co-fermentation is the simultaneous fermentation of the sugar sources in a single vessel, resulting in a unique hybrid product. Producers continue to experiment with using two or more fermentable sugar sources to create their products.

 

When is a wine a cider, and a cider a wine? Hybrid wine, beer and cider products that defy easy categorisation are on the rise as producers continue to experiment with using two or more fermentable sugar sources to create their products.

Vermont-based drinks maker, Fable makes a range of drinks it describes as “cider as wine”. Fox & the Grapes is described as a mid-sparkling, grape-marc infused apple wine. New York’s Blackduck Cider has co-fermented its cider with local Riesling and Gewurztraminer grapes. Its Black and Red Flag ciders, use fermented red currants that have undergone carbonic maceration, then further fermented with tart cherries and cider. Modern Times in San Diego partnered with from Santa Barbara County’s Lo-Fi Wines to brew Analog, a saison-wine co-fermentation with Riesling grapes.

With seemingly endless possibilities for ingredients to coferment, there is of course massive scope for further flavor and ingredient combinations. However, key to this trend is a sense that ingredients that grow together work together as an expression of local terroir. With interest in products unique to their local environments still at a high, co-fermentation are likely to appeal especially to their local markets.

 

Radius, the IWSR’s innovation tracker, brings you the latest product launches and new consumer trends driving the market. Available online or as quarterly trend reports.

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