Four Daughters launches hard cider
Published 10:09 am Tuesday, August 5, 2014
A local winery took yet another step to expand its business Monday.
Four Daughters Vineyard & Winery, one of the state’s largest wineries, launched a hard cider line called Loon Juice Monday. It will be the first and only hard cider in the country to be sold in 5-liter miniature kegs, which arrived just this week from a German manufacturer, according to the winery.
Four Daughters Vineyard & Winery is launching its own brand of hard cider. Photo provided
“I’ve never tasted a cider like this before, so I thought it should be bottled in a new way as well. It’s something that’s never been done before,” said Four Daughter winemaker Justin Osborne in a press release.
The brand, including the name, is focused on Minnesota tradition. The cider is all made at the southeastern Minnesota winery and the apples come from a Minnesota orchard.
The cider is unsweetened and made of 100 percent Honeycrisp apples. It’s described as having a crisp, clean taste.
Four Daughters’ owners worked with a German manufacturer to create a mini-keg that would work well with cider.
“The look is what we would describe as our blend of Minnesota-nice and casual style,” said owner Vicky Vogt in a press release.
Winery leaders said it’s been a popular choice at Four Daughters in the winery’s tasting room for two and a half years, and guests often requested it be bottled.
The hard cider kegs are available at the winery, in liquor stores beginning this month, and will soon appear in restaurants.
It’s been a busy summer for the winery. In June, Four Daughters launched Sunflake Wine, a wholesale line of blended wine now being sold across the country. In late May, Four Daughters kicked off an expansion to double the winery’s size by adding 9,000 square feet at its location on the edge of Mower County at 78757 Minnesota 16, Spring Valley.
The project will add a large event space, which will also be used to help increase the winery’s production. The winery opened in December of 2011. Wine production has increased from 8,000 gallons 2012 to 26,000 gallons in 2013. Osborne expects production to easily top that this year, and, depending on how things go, he dreams of one day topping 50,000 gallons and even nearing the state limit of 75,000 gallons a year.
