Rocky Ground

Country: United States

Region: Maine

Sub-region or Appellation: Newburgh

Winemaker: Angus and Abbey Deighan

Viticulture: foraged wild and heirloom apples

Terroir: varied, depending on orchard

Website: https://rockygroundcider.com
Instagram: @rockygroundcider

Meet Angus and Abbey Deighan of Rocky Ground Cider. They are some of the most buoyant, free-spirited people we've ever met—and enormously talented cider makers to boot!

All their ciders are fermented dry with wild yeasts, evoking the rocky ground from which they came.

Made primarily from apples foraged around their hometown of Newburgh, they are pure and precise, a friend to food and a bookend to any culinary or recreational experience. We are confident you will fall head over heels into the romance of this project, which has convinced us that cider can indeed be wine.

Angus and Abbey Deighan of Rocky Ground Cider, Maine

CURRENT RELEASES

ROCKY GROUND :: Bard

A semi-dry, semi-effervescent cider that evokes luscious fruit and presents way more body than you would normally expect from a cider. Juice is boiled down in Rocky Ground's maple syrup evaporator, then fermented in barrel for 2 years. 2/3 Gray Pearmain, a Maine native from Fairfield, and 1/3 wild pippins from Newburgh. The cider is a tribute to Sean Miller, who is a great friend and the official Orchard Bard of Rocky Ground. The label is one of his collages.

Vintage: 2017
Apples: 2/3 Gray Pearmain, 1/3 wild pippins
Style: Dry cider
Alcohol Content: 11% ABV
Region: Maine
Sub-region or Appellation: Newburgh
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: Juice is boiled down in a maple syrup evaporator, then fermented in barrel for 2 years
Fining or Filtration: None
Sulfur added: None

ROCKY GROUND :: Pips

A crisp delight with gentle tannin and mild bubbles. Thirty-nine wild pippins & eight heirloom varieties, all grown without fertilizer, spray or irrigation. Bottle fermented with Swan's wildflower honey. Pressed in 2018, bottled in 2019. 106 cases made.

Vintage: 2018
Apples: 39 wild pippins + 8 heirloom varieties
Style: Dry sparkling cider
Alcohol Content: 7.5% ABV
Region: Maine
Sub-region or Appellation: Newburgh
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: bottle fermented with local wildflower honey
Fining or Filtration: None
Sulfur added: None

ROCKY GROUND :: Queen

Tart, fruity and dry with moderate bubbles. Forty-three varieties. By volume 69% wild apples and 31% grafted. Naturally fermented and aged in wooden barrels without the addition of yeast or sulfite. Bottle fermented with Swan's wildflower honey. Pressed in 2018, bottled in 2019. 8.4% ABV, 126 cases made.

Vintage: 2018
Apples: 69% wild apples and 31% grafted apples
Style: Dry sparkling cider
Alcohol Content: 8.4% ABV
Region: Maine
Sub-region or Appellation: Newburgh
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: fermented and aged in wooden barrels. Bottle fermented with local wildflower honey.
Fining or Filtration: None
Sulfur added: None

ROCKY GROUND :: Bow & Stern

This blend of 51 wild pippins and 4 heirloom varieties picks the finest fruit from the beginning and end of the apple season. It is dedicated to Angus's dad, Dr. Bill Deighan, who first introduced Angus to white water canoe racing when he was 10. "He's a real good shit," says Angus. Naturally fermented in neutral oak barrels and bottle fermented with local maple syrup for gentle bubbles. Enjoy at 55F.

Vintage: 2019
Apples: 51 wild pippins and 4 heirloom varieties
Style: Dry sparkling cider
Alcohol Content: 8.2% ABV
Region: Maine
Sub-region or Appellation: Newburgh
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: fermented and aged in neutral wooden barrels. Bottle fermented with local maple syrup.
Fining or Filtration: None
Sulfur added: None

ROCKY GROUND :: Oracle

6% Stark and Hawkeye and 94% wild pippins, featuring Neville, Vicky, and Drywell. 100% naturally grown apples: no fertilizer, irrigation or spray. Wild fermented and aged in neutral oak. Bottle fermented with honey. 47 cases made.

Vintage: 2019
Apples: 6% Stark and Hawkeye + 94% wild pippins
Style: Dry sparkling cider
Alcohol Content: 7.8% ABV
Region: Maine
Sub-region or Appellation: Newburgh
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: fermented and aged in neutral oak barrels. Bottle fermented with local honey.
Fining or Filtration: None
Sulfur added: None

ROCKY GROUND :: Zuzu

Juice from 40 wild apple seedlings, fermented in oak for 11 months, then steeped in hops picked by Angus’s grandfather and great aunt. Bottle fermented with maple syrup. Bright citrus and fruity. Lightly piney and grassy. Subtle hop influence. 635 bottles made.

Vintage: 2019
Apples: Blend of heirloom varieties
Style: Dry sparkling cider
Alcohol Content: 7.8% ABV
Region: Maine
Sub-region or Appellation: Newburgh
Yeasts: Indigenous
Vinification: fermented and aged in neutral oak for 11 months, then steeped in Chinook hops, then bottle fermented with local honey.
Fining or Filtration: None
Sulfur added: None

ROCKY GROUND