How the Wine Aisle Could Help Save America’s Cider Industry

American cider is in the midst of a rebirth. In all 50 states, cider makers work to redefine this once-favored beverage of choice and refamiliarize drinkers with the breadth and diversity of the category. And as with any courting process worth the effort, a little awkwardness in the beginning is only natural.

For example, cider is often shelved next to beer, but it’s actually a type of wine. Both wine and cider are made by fermenting juice, but American cider makers seek to be recognized by consumers for its own merits, rather than in comparison to others.

“I think [cider makers] have a good opportunity to create their own identity,” says Aaron Walker, director of winemaking operations at Pali Wine Company in the Central Coast of California. “It wouldn’t make sense for them to try and just position themselves as another type of wine… they’ve got the story. People love stories when it comes to consuming.”

Stories about American hard cider tend to drift toward lore. Most focus on a span from the colonial era to Prohibition, a time when cider was often more commonly consumed than water. But after Prohibition, orchard cultivation and cider making fell out of favor. Eventually, they were overtaken by industrial beer brewing and domestic wine making. 

The American cider industry hopes to reclaim its position as America’s favorite beverage, but to do that, consumers need to have a better understanding of cider and its identity.

What is cider?

By definition, cider is an alcoholic beverage made of fermented juice from apples. Some cider makers insist it’s completely separate from wine, while others don’t mind the association. 

Todd Cavallo of Wild Arc Farm in New York’s Hudson Valley region, says he wouldn’t necessarily separate the two. “I think that thinking about them similarly gives you more insight than thinking about them differently,” he says. “I’ve heard it said, I can’t remember who originally said it, but sparkling cider is America’s Champagne.” 

In some countries where it commands more interest, cider actually translates to “apple wine,” like apfelwein in Germany, or sagardoa in Spain’s Basque Country. But in the U.S., where the cider scene is still in its nascent stage, drawing parallels to beer or wine may help draw a curious audience.

Is cider actually wine?

Cider is federally regulated as wine in the United States. However, not everyone around the world considers it such. 

“The majority of cider drinkers in the world’s biggest cider-making countries — the U.K., South Africa — don’t align cider with wine,” says Adam Wells. He’s founder of Cider Review, author of Perry: A Drinker’s Guide, and holds a WSET Wine & Spirits diploma. “They align it with beer, as something fizzy and fairly low-alcohol, and served from kegs in pubs.” 

Cider’s high production costs align much more with winemaking than beer brewing. “People expect cider to be cheaper, and it is often given a beer margin despite the labor and laid-in costs being much closer to wine,” says Riley Duffie Bresnahan, sales director for Eden Ciders and Iapetus Wine. 

From a production standpoint, to ferment grape juice or apple juice is virtually identical. One difference, according to Bresnahan, is that apples can, and often should, be stored prior to maceration and pressing. Grapes need to be processed as close to harvest as possible. Unlike brewing, neither wine nor cider makers utilize heat during the production process.

So, yes, cider is wine, despite how some consumers may perceive it. However, cider often has a lower finishing alcohol by volume (ABV) than many wines, often below 7% ABV for tax purposes. More modest alcohol content allows cider to be easier to drink, and in some ways, adds more complexity than higher ABV wines.

“Importantly, cider has quite a bit less alcohol than wine, which adds to the perception of textural elements like tannin, often heightening senses of sharpness or astringency,” says Wells. 

Additionally, some cider makers utilize certain wild yeasts or strains like Brettanomyces for specific fermentation characteristics. Often referred to as “Brett,” it can give pungent, horsey aromas in a wine. It’s something Walker says remains anathema to winemakers. “When you mention that word around a winery, it’s like you’re talking about the plague,” he says with a laugh. “It’s something [winemakers] see as evil, but [cider makers] find useful.”

Cider vs. Beer vs. Wine

Despite their differences, cider and wine have quite a bit in common. Each can be complex, full- or light-bodied, finish anywhere from sweet to bone dry, and pair excellently with food. 

Where they begin to drift apart again is packaging. There’s a perception that consumers tend to place higher value on bottled beverages than those in cans, which poses another hurdle for cider to clear. 

“Wine tends to come in 750mL bottles [while] ciders are in cans,” says Bresnahan. “Willingness to spend money tends to follow in that folks are willing to spend more for a bottle of wine than they are for [a four-pack] of cider.” 

Ciders packaged similar to wines and sold in their proximity have a better chance of appealing to wine drinkers, thanks to the suggested value proposition implied. It wasn’t always that way, , says Cavallo.

“A lot of the people talking about cider as a beer replacement kind of put cider behind the eight ball for a little while,” he says. “Because then, people are looking for low price, canned, dry, maybe with some adjuncts, if they're used to drinking adjunct beers or hops or something like that. Whereas now that there's a lot more [750mL bottles] out there in the wine shops and they're on the shelf next to wine… that's something that you probably couldn't even do five or 10 years ago, when there wasn't as much crossover in the retail side of things.”

How to appreciate cider like a wine

Tasting cider and wine requires attention and an open mind. Wells says that consumers who are more familiar with wine may be in for a surprise with cider. 

“Fundamentally, I think that wine drinkers should know that here is a drink which, whilst distinct and idiosyncratic, offers so much for them to enjoy,” he says. “There are hundreds of distinct apple varieties, just like grape varieties, with their own flavors and characters. Hundreds of producers determinedly making gorgeous, full-juice, complex creations. Thousands more flavors to discover than perhaps they thought existed.”

Wine aficionados sometimes assume that everyone knows everything about the beverage. Cavallo speaks of a need to “demystify” cider for new consumers. To point out similarities between wine and cider can only help to highlight the uniqueness of each. 

“I think it is incumbent upon us as producers to do a little bit of hand-holding to make people feel comfortable up front,” he says. “Come in and tell us what you like to taste. We'll pour you some things until we find one that we make that you like.” 

Bresnahan agrees. “There is a cider for every occasion,” she says. “Embrace the versatility.”