M. struthiopteris 2023
Marzae Sauvage wines are inspired by the edible flora & fauna of New England. M. struthiopteris (fiddlehead fern) shares much looser connection to the wine itself than some of our other labels but seemed a good fit for a unique spring release. This is one our personal favorites because we can’t think of anything else quite like it, but the results are fabulous. Concept is simple enough—we wanted to make a natural cider that was going to be robust enough to hold up well to oxidative aging. Hence a cider base made up of all the best cider apples we had to work with, layered with lots and lots of chardonnay & vidal skins, and a bit of actual wine, making for a cider with an orange wine like bite and depth. Partially barrel aged, partially amphora aged, and partly stainless steel aged, then blended together, the result is deep and tropical fruity with a smokey, earthy mezcal-like element…all coming in at just 9.5%!
Marzae Sauvage wines are inspired by the edible flora & fauna of New England. M. struthiopteris (fiddlehead fern) shares much looser connection to the wine itself than some of our other labels but seemed a good fit for a unique spring release. This is one our personal favorites because we can’t think of anything else quite like it, but the results are fabulous. Concept is simple enough—we wanted to make a natural cider that was going to be robust enough to hold up well to oxidative aging. Hence a cider base made up of all the best cider apples we had to work with, layered with lots and lots of chardonnay & vidal skins, and a bit of actual wine, making for a cider with an orange wine like bite and depth. Partially barrel aged, partially amphora aged, and partly stainless steel aged, then blended together, the result is deep and tropical fruity with a smokey, earthy mezcal-like element…all coming in at just 9.5%!
Marzae Sauvage wines are inspired by the edible flora & fauna of New England. M. struthiopteris (fiddlehead fern) shares much looser connection to the wine itself than some of our other labels but seemed a good fit for a unique spring release. This is one our personal favorites because we can’t think of anything else quite like it, but the results are fabulous. Concept is simple enough—we wanted to make a natural cider that was going to be robust enough to hold up well to oxidative aging. Hence a cider base made up of all the best cider apples we had to work with, layered with lots and lots of chardonnay & vidal skins, and a bit of actual wine, making for a cider with an orange wine like bite and depth. Partially barrel aged, partially amphora aged, and partly stainless steel aged, then blended together, the result is deep and tropical fruity with a smokey, earthy mezcal-like element…all coming in at just 9.5%!
ABV: 9.5%
Cases Produced: 150 (estimated)
Style: Experimental Orange Wine/Cider Co-Ferment
Appearance: Deep Gold
Tasting notes: Dried mango, orange, mezcal, guava, mastic
Ingredients: 75% cider apple juice & pomace (porters perfection; Ashmead’s kernel; golden russet; spitzenburg); 25% wine juice & grapes (20% vidal; 80% chardonnay); 1.25 tons chardonnay (40%) & vidal (60%) skins
Skin Contact: A couple weeks to a couple months
Maturation Process: Fermented dry in stainless steel (It is dry even though it’s got a distinct sweetness from the complex apple sugars + glycerol mouthfeel); About half aged in new French oak, a quarter in terracotta, and a quarter in stainless steel for 4-5 months. Sulfited to approx. .8ppm molecular sulfur before bottling.