DEERFIELD — Experts and novices from across New England — and the country — gathered in Deerfield on Sunday morning to learn more about ciders and taste 15 different varieties of hard cider.
The guided tasting, called “Cider Appreciation 101” was sold out and included more than 50 people and was part of the 22nd annual Franklin County Cider Days, an event celebrating all sweet and hard ciders.
The festival ran from Friday night through Sunday and also included orchard talks and tours, cider workshops, and cider-tasting salons around the county.
Each table at the tasting had glasses with the Cider Days logo on them. Event volunteers served the ciders for an hour and a half while experts and cider makers discussed the varieties of cider with participants.
Franklin County Chamber of Commerce Marketing Manager Lisa Davol estimated that around 4,000 people would attend the festival’s events.
Ellen Caballi was one of those who attended Sunday’s tasting. She hails from Sonoma, Calif., where her and her husband own and operate Tilted Shed Ciderworks. Caballi said the weekend is a like a large homecoming for cider enthusiasts.
“These are my people and I see a lot of my friends from across the country,” she said. “This is where I come to bond with the people who are as obsessed with apples and cider as much as I am.”
She said the Franklin County community has really rallied around the event and cider makers.
“It’s always just really thrilling to come to Massachusetts and see what a culture, and how supportive it’s been — for what, 22 years now? — of orchardists and cider makers and the people who are keeping us alive,” she said.
While there are a lot of experts and knowledgeable people at Cider Days, organizers encourage those who are new to cider to be unafraid of the learning curve. Eric West encouraged those new at the cider tasting and making to dive in, and let this weekend serve as a starting point for their interest.
“I hope you walk away from from this event maybe more confused than before, but I think that’s a good thing,” he said to the crowd at the tasting.
The group of about 50 people tried 15 ciders, including two from Massachusetts, one from Vermont, one from New Hampshire as well as several from Canada, France, Spain and Italy.
“We take it very seriously and love geeking out over this stuff,” Dan Pucci, another speaker at the tasting, said. “At the same time we want to make cider fun. We look at it and we talk about it like it’s wine, but it’s not. It’s cider. It’s what farmers drink, what the working class drinks. Cider is fun.”
Miranda Davis covers Montague, Gill and Erving. Reach her at 413-772-0261 ext. 280 or mdavis@recorder.com.