Drink Up Thy Cider
When Dorset entrepreneur Bill Meaden tried to convince his farmer dad Badger that they should turn their hand to cider making, he was sceptical. But over a decade on, the business is going from strength to strength - and they haven't looked back. Words by Laura K Williams.
It's a tough old world for farmers these days, from the fallout of Brexit and changes to government subsidies to climate change and supermarkets paying less and less for UK produce. Most successful farms have to diversify to stay sustainable.
Myncen Farm in the Cranborne Chase National Landscape in north Dorset is a shining example of this. Run by the Meaden family for over 100 years as an arable farm, it’s now transformed into a multi-functional operation and one of the best small cider producers in the county. It’s also now host to regular cider tasting tours and many a cider-fuelled festival.
Nestled within sprawling countryside, a sweeping path takes you up towards the farm house and a shepherd’s hut which doubles up as the Cider Shack farm shop full of ciders, jellies and jams and the odd bit of merchandise (also now home to copies of Pier Journal!). As you drive in, you pass a quaint test orchard with 16 trees producing eight varieties of apple where the team have learned, over the past decade, which trees work best with the chalky Dorset soil and - crucially - which produce the best cider apples.
Right time, right taste
"Apples ripen at different times, have distinct flavours, and you get different volumes of them each year,” explains Bill. “We needed to get to know what works here. Chalky soil holds water so when Somerset struggles with dry weather, we’re usually OK. But in overly wet years, the sugar in the apples here is watered down, whereas Somerset does OK.
“We learned a lot from the tester orchard. Morgan Sweet and Tom Putt apples are ready too early for us, Dunkerton is too late. Trebinetts is ready at the right time, but the taste is far too stringent.”
Apples aren’t the only fruit on the 280 acre farm. The shepherd’s hut is nestled among some perry pear trees propagated from a tree on the farm that is over 300 years old, a nod to the rich history visible here. While apple trees take 10 years to produce a decent crop, you’re looking at 30 years for perry pears. “You plant pears for your heirs,” quips Bill.
Think small, buy local
After a real boom period in the early 2010s with the Thatchers rebrand and explosion of fruity ciders into bars and supermarkets, the demand for cider has waned a little; but thankfully for Bill and fellow smaller independent cider makers, the demand continues.
“People are more engaged with where their food and drink comes from, and our farm tours and cider tastings are doing a great job of building a loyal customer base. The cider industry, especially artisan, is very friendly. It’s not like beer brewing. There’s no cider wars.”
Nature-friendly farming
As we head up the hill and soak up the serene atmosphere of the new heritage orchard, home to traditional Dorset apples, Bill explains how they nurture the trees.
A local beekeeper manages some hives in the orchard to facilitate pollination across the farm. Bill says: “We’ve gone with a beekeeper who likes cider, so he’s got more incentive to come here, look after the bees and buy cider. We sell the honey in the shop, it works really well.”
Unwelcome wildlife requires a slightly different approach. “Brown hare are a lovely animal to watch hopping around in the field, but they stand on their hind legs to strip the bark for the minerals and nutrients harming the trees. Everything likes Winter Stubbards; aphids, deer, hares. It’s a sweet Dorset cider apple. We don’t use pesticides.”
After reading an article about using sheep's wool in vineyards to keep pests at bay, Bill thought he’d give it a go here. The wool - bought from a local shepherd - is placed around the base to add moisture, to suppress weeds, keep voles, deer and insects away as they don't like the oily lanolin, and provide local birds with the perfect nest material. It rots down eventually so is a perfect multi-functional eco-friendly solution.
“Without wool, voles take out around 10% of the trees, since we laid the wool last year we’ve only lost one or two,” beams Bill.
An autumn harvest
October and November are the busiest months at the processing plant, with it sitting relatively dormant for the rest of the year, visited by a handful of people during insightful farm tours and tastings.
The setup has come a long way since the early days and it’s pretty self-sustaining now, with a water tank, solar panels and half the number of people they needed in the early days. “My days of picking apples by hand are over,” says Bill, as he shows us the kit they use for the pressing process - from collection and cleaning to pressing and bottling.
Nothing is wasted, as the pulp is given to other local farmers for cattle feed. “The cows go crazy for it,” jokes Bill. “They’re literally bucking up in the air…and the next day they’re flat out moaning.”
A cider for all occasions
There’s been a natural evolution of products, from the standard mix of dry, medium and sweet ciders to vintage (oak cask, whisky and scotch barrels and sherry butts), Dorsecco (cidery prosecco), apple juice, elderflower cider and soon to be released Berrywood Lane sparkling cider and cider vinegar with The Mother (sought after substance to help balance gut bacteria).
Each bottled cider has a story to tell, named after local heroes - combining cultural history with drink production. General Pitt Rivers, Marky Harris the Hurdlemaker and Alice Spinney the Shepherdess.
“We are trying to educate you, as well as destroy your brain cells,” jokes Badger as he pours us our sixth cider to taste with our ploughmans lunch, perfectly curated by Bill’s mum and Badger’s wife Debbie.
Stay updated with Cranborne Chase Cider's latest content by following them on Instagram @cranborne_chase_cider and checking out their website cranbornechasecider.co.uk.
