(bright music) >>Well, I'm here today at Albemarle CiderWorks with Charlotte and Chuck, two of the members of the amazing Shelton family who own and operate this beautiful cidery.

And thank you so much for having us.

>>Thank you for being here.

>>Thank you.

>>Yeah.

Yeah, So how long has this place been in existence?

>>Well, the cidery we opened in 2009.

>>Okay.

>>We bought the place with and for our parents in 1986.

Started planting apple trees as a hobby really.

>>Wow.

>>[Charlotte Shelton] In the early nineties.

And as the orchard grew the question was, "what do you do with this collection of apples?"

'Cause we ended up with about 250 varieties.

(Tassie laughing) And cider which is what these apples, a lot of them heirlooms and unusual varieties, were originally grown for.

>>That's great.

>>We thought, "well why not?"

>>Ah.

>>I moved back here more or less full-time to be with my mom and dad who were still alive then and >>That's great.

>>were instrumental in getting us going early.

>>Oh yeah.

>>So the orchard you see is probably anywhere from 10 to almost 30 years old.

>>Wow.

>>The type of trees we were planting have a life expectancy of about 70 years productive.

So we're just in the infancy of it really still, but we just had our 13th anniversary Saturday.

So that's where we are now.

>>One of your famous ciders is the Albemarle Pippin and the Royal Pippin, I'm anxious to try this, so let's give it a try.

This is beautiful.

>>Well thank you.

>>Look at that color (glass clinking) and the head on it was so pretty.

>>Mm hm.

>>Oh my goodness.

>>So this is a single variety cider, if you will.

It's made from Newtown or Albemarle Pippin.

The apple originated in Newtown, Long Island.

>>We named it Royal Pippin because it was Queen Victoria's favorite apple.

>>Mm.

>>And the apples that introduced her to the Pippin came from Enniscorthy in the state just to the southeast of here.

>>Wow, this is really delightful.

So what shall we try next?

>>Well, why don't we try Jupiter's Legacy.

>>All right, so Jupiter's Legacy, tell me about the name and let's pour a little bit.

>>Well, when we opened this cidery in 2009 naming these things is a little bit of a challenge.

>>Yes.

>>And we live here, you know what, 8 or 10 miles from Monticello if we were crows and in Albemarle County Mr. Jefferson is it's leading citizen for all the ages.

But anyway, everything's Montecillo this and Jefferson that.

So we wanted to honor that legacy but something a little bit different.

Jupiter Evans was a slave born at Shadwell the same year as Jefferson.

They grew up together.

>>Wow.

>>Jefferson, he became the head of the slave hierarchy at Monticello.

Jefferson called him his trustee servant, would send him to collect monies owed him, et cetera.

Now Jefferson was a great oenophile but he could never grow Vinifera grapes in this country because of the phytophthora in the soil.

But he had one orchard devoted strictly to cider varieties.

"Ciders and malt beverages are what I serve at table," he wrote.

>>Yes.

>>So this is our homage to Mr. Jefferson, Monticello, Jupiter's Legacy.

>>Both of these ciders came from 2019.

So you've heard of good years and bad years.

>>Yes.

>>In grapes, same thing as true in apples.

So 2019 was probably a stellar year in our whole existence.

>>Yeah.

Well congratulations on this one.

(glasses clinking) So we have a really exciting one to try now, the Hewes Crab.

>>It has all the things you want in a cider apple.

It has acid, it has tannin and it has really high sugar.

It's one of the highest sugar apples grown anywhere.

Almost 20 bricks, so it produces a 9-10% cider that's rivals some white wines.

>>Yes.

Well, it's wonderfully crisp, it's delicious.

And I just want to salute you (glasses clinking) and thank you so much for having us here today and cheers to you.

>>Cheers, cheers.

>>And to Albemarle Ciderworks.

(glasses clinking) (bright music) (piano music)