Founded by husband and wife team Sean Myles and Gina Haverstock, the Annapolis Cider Company opened on Main Street, Wolfville in April 2016. Passionate about the local food movement, Sean and Gina were inspired to start a venture to support local agriculture. Surrounded by 6000 acres of apple orchards and access to great heirloom varieties, the idea of a cidery was born. At the time, there were no local cider producers you could visit that had a tasting bar and learn about the cider making process. With that in mind, they designed the cidery with a retail space connected to production where people could sample the ciders at the tasting bar with a view to production and have an explanation on how cider is made.
The Annapolis Cider Company offers a large selection of premium ciders. In addition to the ever-changing Something Different cider, there are three main cider series that are produced. The Signature Series includes our flagship ciders, Crisp & Dry, The Classic, and Heirloom. Varying from dry and off-dry (Heirloom and Crisp & Dry) to sweet (The Classic), these ciders are made from a blend of apples that vary throughout the year and showcase the diversity of apple varieties in the Annapolis Valley. The Heritage Series highlights specific apple varieties such as Northern Spy and Old-fashioned Gravenstein, as well as a rosé cider made using red-flesh apples, Geneva Crab Rosé. The Creative Series are specialty ciders that feature other local fruits creatively blended with our cool-fermented dry cider base and include Rhubarb Ginger, Sour Cherry and our most popular cider Earl Blue, a cider and wild blueberry blend infused with earl grey tea.
" Our ciders are made from 100% Annapolis Valley apples. Our apples are fresh-pressed just down the road at Stirling Fruit Farm and fermented onsite in our cellar at the cidery. One thing that really differentiates us is the process by which we ferment. Our ciders are fermented to completely dry through a controlled long fermentation, 6 weeks versus the standard 2 week fermentation, after which fresh-pressed juice is blended into the dry cider to balance and finish. This results in clean aromatic ciders with fresh apple notes. We have a rotating cider that we are known for, called "Something Different", that is paired with a local charity. Something Different often features other local fruits and flavours to create unique cider blends (e.g. Peach & Peppercorn and Wine & Blackcurrant) and we donate $0.50 of every Something Different refill to the charity it is paired with."
Owners and founders, Sean Myles and Gina Haverstock, each bring a particular specialty to the Annapolis Cider Company. Sean is a professor and apple researcher at Dalhousie University and Gina is the winemaker at Gaspereau Vineyards. By combining their interests, apples and fermentation, they decided to open a cidery business with a mind to support local agriculture. While both maintain their full-time jobs, their vision remains integral to the operation of the cidery