Sobre La Madre
Since 2015, the first ten barrels of the year at Sidra Trabanco get released as a special edition. Unracked, so as to get the bottles out the door as early as possible, it is a much cloudier and raw looking cider than most. Envisioned as an homage to the traditional homestyle ciders, which were never racked. Imagine something like the Beaujolais nouveau, but for cider.
There is quite a bit of interest these days in these types of ciders. Trabanco is no longer the only llagar making an unfiltered first of the season cider. La primer sidre l’añu is now a common release from other llagares, and has its own festival now in Gijón. I personally very much like these ciders. They tend to be more forward, aggressive, and full flavored than other expressions.
Appearance
Asturians put great stock in the proper appearance and presentation of the cider. Perhaps more so than anywhere else I’ve ever drunk cider. For that reason, there is a well-developed vocabulary in Asturias for describing the visual aspects of sidra natural.
| Color | Pale Straw (02 SRM) |
| Clarity | Cloudy |
| Espalme | Panizal: lively carbon dioxide, well balanced |
| Pegue | Very fine and delicate legs. Many tiny bubbles. |
Mouthfeel
Mouthfeel refers to the physical sensations (as opposed to the aromas and flavors) of the cider. It refers to textures that touch the tongue, roof of the mouth, teeth, throat, and to some extent, the aftertaste sensations.
| Body | Full |
| Sensation | tongue coating and with real weight |
| Finish | Long (30+ Seconds) |
| Balance | Fechu: A full bodied cider with high alcohol content and a strong flavor |
Aromas & Flavors
Sidra natural has a set of basic aromas and flavors that, to one degree or another, all examples exhibit. Here I rate the relative strength of those basic flavors, and afterwards discuss any additional flavor or aroma components that are noteworthy.
| Alcohol | Alma: Balanced alcohol |
| Apple Flavors | Apple forward |
| Acetic Flavors | Machu: A very full bodied cider with much more acetic notes and very little sweetness. |
| Astringent Flavors | Secante: refreshingly dry and stimulating to the palate. |
Tasting Notes
Very apple forward. Strong woody notes from the chestnut barrels. Fresh cut grass aromas
About Cider Tasting
This evaluation standard is my own. It is not created or endorsed by any official body in Asturias or elsewhere. I designed it based on the work of the Brewer’s Association and the work of Travis Robert Alexander & Brianna L. Ewing Valliere of the Washington State University Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources. It is also informed by the traditional vocabulary used to describe cider in Asturias. You can read more about my methodology, my standard for evaluating Asturian cider, and the descriptive lexicon I use.
