Oz Farm Apple Cider
by Madeline Ruth
Oz Farm went into commercial production of its farmhouse-style cider only four years ago, but their unique organic cider blends are 30 years in the making. The farm’s three acres of organically tended apple trees produce over 50 rare and heirloom choice European cider apples planted in the 1990s. Their orchard-based blends are crafted with traditional methods: the apples are masticated, pressed, and fermented with native yeast in the barn adjacent to the orchard. Then they are intentionally blended to lend each vintage a taste of Oz Farm, offering a bone-dry effervescence with a crafted balance of tannins and acids. Infused into the terroir of these ciders is the essence of the rich soil that is continuously revitalized by Garcia River wintertime flooding and decades of regenerative orchard management.
Oz Farm’s cidery was born out of a passion to creatively utilize the apples that can’t be sold as dessert-grade. Instead of composting or sending these choice cider apples to pig farmers, four years ago Oz’s new owner, Dean Fernandez, decided to build a cidery and thus combine two things that add intrigue to any organic farm operation: upcycling and value-added products. Dean first got introduced to cider production while apprenticing at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems in Santa Cruz, and he spent years pruning the orchard at Oz before taking ownership of the farm and its “espaliered” orchards, with trees trained on trellises in rows much like grapes in vineyards.
Oz Farm brings their local and sustainable farming ethic into the production of cider. While it is possible to make cider from concentrate or source juice from apples grown far away, Oz’s cidery only uses organic pressed apple juice from its own orchards and is committed to small-batch production. Oz Farm has learned that the best craft cider is born from the alchemy of blending the juice of multiple choice apples, and their blends trace the arc of the harvest with early, mid, and late-season ciders. The most unique properties of apples—such as the acids in the Nehou apple and the unique tannin profile offered by the Siberian Crabapple—are fermented separately to add special qualities to blends. Oz is even experimenting with breeding new varietals of apple by growing out seeds born from the most ancient genetics of the original trees in the mountains of Kazakhstan.
The Oz Farm cidery has come a long way in four years. An entirely off-grid farm and retreat center, the cidery is powered by solar and wind energy. Abby Stoner, current Retreat Manager, remembers the early days when they milled and pressed all the apples by hand into 5-gallon carboys. “Our friends were getting married at Oz and really wanted cider from Oz’s orchard at the wedding. So eight months beforehand, all the farmers hand-pressed the apples. It was one of the first seasonal batches we ever made.” Oz Farm now has a full state-of-the-art cidery, but small-batch production, as well as sustainability, is still a central ethos.
Oz plans to expand production and distribution throughout Mendocino County come fall of 2020 and has just acquired a number of upcycled storage tanks from an Oregon tea company that was going out of business. While currently only available for wholesale accounts and on-site growler sales, Oz soon plans to sell bottles of cider to grocery stores and bottle shops along the coast.
Oz Cider can be found at Point Arena Pizza and is available for local growler purchase at ozfarm.com/cider.
Madi has been working with Oz Farm since March 2020 and spends her time developing Oz’s nonprofit branch when not sipping cider.
