Scenic beauty, combined with a ready supply and passion of apples, not to mention a healthy amount of experience in the wine industry, equals a worthy opportunity in the hard cider industry. This is the combination that helped to open HR Ciderworks in 2013. A partnership between Rich Cushman of Viento Wines, and Steve and Don Bickford of Mt. Hood Winery, HR Ciderworks has been quietly making cider available throughout the Columbia River Gorge for the past two years.
The cidery, like many in the area, utilizes juice from the local Ryan’s Juice Co., along with some juice Cushman presses himself. Currently the company has two offerings that sporadically appear in taprooms and ciderfests throughout the region, including their Pear cider. This scrumpy takes advantage of locally grown comice pears to make a crisp, drier pear cider with a very full bodied mouth feel. On the palate, flavors of very ripe comice pears, along with subtle sweet notes and a bright crispness that doesn’t hurt on a dreary day. HR Ciderworks is a worthy addition to anyone’s evening at the pub. A great food pairing would be something wholesome, with not too much spice or sweetness, such as bangers and mash, or roast beef.
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