botanist and Barrel
north carolina, USA
ABOUT Botanist and Barrel
Cedar Grove, NC is a quaint little township just north of Hillsborough. It’s a traditional farming community that is slowly shifting back to fruits and veggies, especially apples and blueberries. Cedar Grove Blueberry Farm is the home for Botanist and Barrel, a farmhouse cider and winery focused on natural ciders and wines.
“The soul of the farm is its soil,” says Lyndon Smith, one of the owners. The sandy loam soils are perfect for blueberries and apples. The farm is certified organic, “we never spray”, and is also dry-farmed, meaning we don’t irrigate. As a result the fruits are bursting with flavor and terroir. “These' are the best berries on earth,” says Smith.
To highlight the true terroir of the farm, we ferment only with the wild yeasts naturally ocurring in the bloom of the blueberries. “Using native yeast just highlights the sense of place,” says Kether Smith, cidermaker and co-founder. We love this natural and wild yeast and have isolated and banked our farm's wild blueberry yeast to create unique and lovely ciders.
As certified organic farmers, we value quality over quantity. Similar to world-class viticulture for wines, we farm for flavor by dry-farming. While this keeps yields down, it keeps quality up. “Our berries always shine through. You know they are from Cedar Grove,” says Amie Fields.
Our ciders are made without additives. They are 'still alive' as we never kill or remove anything through unneeded processing. We choose not to fine, filter, or pasteurize.
