Besides traditional wineries, Essex County is home to producers of award-winning berry and fruit wines, and gold-medal hard ciders.
Two longstanding orchards in Essex County — Russell Orchards and Winery, 143 Argilla Road, Ipswich, and Cider Hill Farms, 5 Fern Ave., Amesbury — press and bottle a rainbow of flavored adult beverages.
At Russell Orchards, co-owner Miranda Russell said they do have grapes growing at the 120-acre fruit farm, but they are table grapes. Wine-quality grapes are hard to grow locally with the extreme New England weather and pests, she said.
The orchard bottles all kinds of wines and hard ciders for a legion of fans and loyal customers. Its tasting room will open in the spring.
“All our wines are fruit wines made with our own ingredients, except for wild Maine blueberries which are better for making wine than the standard high-bush variety that we cultivate here,” Russell said.
Owners Doug and Miranda Russell are the second generation of Russells to work the orchard. Prior to taking ownership in 2008, the couple learned the business from Doug’s father, Max, who farmed the property for 30 years. Although the pandemic changed the business, she said, the orchard — like many growers — has enjoyed a greater sense of appreciation in the market and among customers.
“Like others, we’ve definitely benefited from the local, farm-to-table movement. It’s craft-everything, artisan-everything … from beer to goat cheese,” she said.
In Amesbury, Cider Hill Farm’s hard cidery, Cider Hill Cellars, exclusively offers hard ciders 100% planted, grown, harvested and pressed at the 145-acre farm and orchards.
Owned and operated by the third generation of the Cook family, the farm’s first hard cider orchard was planted in 2012, with the hard cidery opening in 2017 producing “Orchard Cider.” Cider Hill Farms will reopen in April and will introduce to cider fans, coming in spring 2023, the limited release of Bourbon Barrel Aged Winter (Frost Cider), aged for eight months with a rich aroma of dark caramel and vanilla.
Blending berries, such as raspberry, strawberry and even sour cherry, with some of the farms’ 1,000 cider-specific apple trees, opens up a world of cider possibilities. And Cider Hill also offers its own non-alcoholic sparkling cider made from fresh pressed apples and is not fermented.