As the company behind Sainsbury’s cider range celebrates its 125th anniversary, we take a look behind the scenes at Westons Cider.
Cider has been made in rural England for centuries, and is probably one of our oldest native drinks. The county of Herefordshire is home to the largest cider production, and it’s here in Much Marcle that Westons Cider is based - suppliers of Sainsbury’s own-label ciders for the last 20 years.
Still a family-run business, Westons was founded in 1880 by Henry Weston, and today his great-granddaughter Helen Thomas is managing director and her two sons also work for the company. Although much has changed around this century-old operation, the company still uses similar traditional production methods, as well as embracing some modern values and technology.
Over the last 10 years Westons has won over 35 prestigious cider awards including three gold medals for ‘Best National Cider’ from CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale). This heritage and quality is why Sainsbury’s uses Westons for its premium quality ciders.
Westons use top-quality cider apples, which are referred to by cider makers as ‘bitter sweet’ and ‘bitter sharp’ in style, depending on the balance of sugars, acids and tannins in their juice.
Only local apples are used, sourced mainly from their 350 acres of orchards, but also from neighbouring local orchards to help fulfil the high demand. A total of 5,000 tonnes of apples are used each year to produce two million gallons of cider.
At harvest time during October and November, pickers still collect some apples traditionally by shaking the apple trees' branches with a ‘hooklug’ (a long hooked pole), as some trees are just not suitable for mechanical harvesting.
Fruit is collected and transported to the rotary mill where the high-speed blades make light work of reducing the fruit to a pulp. The juice is then extracted using mechanical presses, and pumped into traditional oak vats where yeast is added to kick-start fermentation - the process of turning the juice’s sugar to alcohol. The longer the period of fermentation, the higher the alcohol level will be - up to 8.4% abv.
The ciders are then left to mature slowly in old oak vats for up to six months depending on the style. This maturation is unlike most cider which spends just a month in stainless steel vessels. The time spent in these vats (some of which are over 200 years old) is what gives the cider a full fruity flavour. The oldest vat holds a whopping 42,000 gallons – enough to supply a family of four with two pints a day for 65 years!
Sainsbury’s is proud of all its ciders, but the Vintage Cider made by Westons is truly special. It’s made using the very best apples from a single year’s crop, rather than being blended with juice from a previous year, and spends three months in oak vats to mature its full fruity flavour. All the ciders made for Sainsbury’s are natural in colour with no artificial additives. They’re suitable for vegetarians, vegans and coeliacs.
Helen Thomas, MD at Westons, says about the relationship Westons has with Sainsbury's: “Our relationship of over 20 years has allowed both companies to develop products together. The current range of five premium ciders contains quality Sainsbury’s own-label ciders, including Taste the Difference, as well as a variety of Westons labelled products.
"We at Westons are delighted that this fruitful relationship with Sainsbury’s has led to such an excellent selection of quality ciders being made available to customers across the country. Thanks to all those customers who continue to enjoy our ciders.”
Find out more about Westons Cider. The cider mill is open to visitors, and attractions include cider mill tours, shire horses, dray rides and their rare and traditional breeds animal farm.
For advice on sensible drinking, visit www.drinkaware.co.uk
