La Mare Wine Estate are desperately looking for Jersey apples to make this year’s batches of cider, spirits and traditional black butter. The apple harvest has just started and although it’s been a good year for the crop a shortfall is predicted. Every year 50 to 70 tonnes of apples are processed at La Mare but even more are needed this year so the company is asking anyone with surplus fruit to get in touch.
La Mare is a member of the Genuine Jersey Products Association and the company is keen to obtain apples from local sources so that the cider and brandy produced will be genuinely Jersey. Tim Crowley, La Mare’s managing director, said: “We’re offering to buy apples from anyone in Jersey to make our popular cider, Apple Brandy and Jersey Cream Liquor. Technically, it’s been a good year for our harvest – a good flowering and a very sunny July followed by the recent rainfall – but we still need more apples. The only stipulation is that they are clean, ripe and of course from Jersey trees.”
Daniel de Carteret is La Mare’s winemaker and distiller. He explains that a blend of varieties will be used to make the company’s products. “The main types of cider apple in our orchards are Michelin, Yarlington Mill, Harry Masters’ Jersey and Dabinett. These will be used to produce 3,000 bottles of our premium still cider, plus 10,000 bottles of traditional cider. However, the majority of the fruit – about 90 per cent – will be used for distilling to make Jersey Apple Brandy which is also used for making our Jersey Cream Liqueur. We are making 30,000 bottles of La Mare Jersey Cream Liqueur this year which is double last year’s quantity. The extra demand is coming from all markets but especially from the UK where we’ve been appearing at many speciality food shows and retail festivals. There’s real interest in our products.”
Tim concluded: “We’ll take every apple we can get. Ideally, we’ll top up this year’s harvest to 100 tonnes but our demand is always increasing. We’re currently planning a new planting of several acres of cider apple trees and when these mature in five to eight years’ time we’ll have plenty of apples, possibly 500 tonnes on heavy years. But until then, we need the public’s help to meet our growing demand for Genuine Jersey products.”
Anyone with spare apples can get in touch with La Mare on 481178
La Mare is a member of the Genuine Jersey Products Association and the company is keen to obtain apples from local sources so that the cider and brandy produced will be genuinely Jersey. Tim Crowley, La Mare’s managing director, said: “We’re offering to buy apples from anyone in Jersey to make our popular cider, Apple Brandy and Jersey Cream Liquor. Technically, it’s been a good year for our harvest – a good flowering and a very sunny July followed by the recent rainfall – but we still need more apples. The only stipulation is that they are clean, ripe and of course from Jersey trees.”
Daniel de Carteret is La Mare’s winemaker and distiller. He explains that a blend of varieties will be used to make the company’s products. “The main types of cider apple in our orchards are Michelin, Yarlington Mill, Harry Masters’ Jersey and Dabinett. These will be used to produce 3,000 bottles of our premium still cider, plus 10,000 bottles of traditional cider. However, the majority of the fruit – about 90 per cent – will be used for distilling to make Jersey Apple Brandy which is also used for making our Jersey Cream Liqueur. We are making 30,000 bottles of La Mare Jersey Cream Liqueur this year which is double last year’s quantity. The extra demand is coming from all markets but especially from the UK where we’ve been appearing at many speciality food shows and retail festivals. There’s real interest in our products.”
Tim concluded: “We’ll take every apple we can get. Ideally, we’ll top up this year’s harvest to 100 tonnes but our demand is always increasing. We’re currently planning a new planting of several acres of cider apple trees and when these mature in five to eight years’ time we’ll have plenty of apples, possibly 500 tonnes on heavy years. But until then, we need the public’s help to meet our growing demand for Genuine Jersey products.”
Anyone with spare apples can get in touch with La Mare on 481178
