STATE OF SUDS 2009
DRAFTING A PLAN
FOR EXPANSION
Wandering Aengus Ciderworks taps Eugene
W
hen I was about 11, I was
chosen from a crowd to
help a costumed reenactor
operate a wooden cider press at a
living history demonstration.
Surprised at how little liquid was
squeezed from each apple, I
learned a lesson about the value
of hard work and scarcity of
resources. That was the last
thought through my little bowl-
cut head, in fact, before I tripped
over the cider bucket and
dumped the fruits of my labor
into the grass.
Happily for Mimi Casteel
and Nick Gunn, the married
couple behind Salem’s
Wandering
Aengus
Ciderworks, cider-making
technology has evolved,
now allowing the ferment-
ing, bottling, and kegging
of the stuff on a massive
scale.
Casteel and Gunn left
Portland-based forestry
surveying jobs in 2004,
tired of the travel involved,
and cast an eye toward
agriculture. Casteel’s par-
By Aaron Ragan-Fore
ents own the nearby Bethel Heights
Vineyard, and though his wife “really
had an itch to get into farming,” Gunn
says, there wasn’t enough work to
go around at Bethel Heights, and
they didn’t want to undermine her
parents’ efforts by founding a com-
peting label. So they leased a near-
by orchard and went into the hard
cider business.
The cider produced by
Wandering Aengus isn’t the pulpy,
syrupy, kid-friendly concoction
enjoyed on chilly autumn eve-
nings. If anything, this hard
cider is a bit like champagne:
crisp, sweet and a little tart.
Perfect for enjoying with
cheese, pork or other musky
savories.
The
proof,
says
Wandering Aengus mar-
keting director James
Kohn, is in the fruit juice.
“Most ciders are made of
concentrated juice or des-
sert apples” like the ones
found in grocery store pro-
duce
sections,
Kohn
explains.
Wandering
Aengus cider, on the other
hand, is made from apple varietals spe-
cifically for cider-making, and in fact,
the ingredient list printed on the side of
a bottle of the Semi-Dry cider amounts
to a single item: “Fermented apple juice
from certified organic cider apples.”
The ciderworks obtains those apples
from numerous sources, including its
own farm of nearly five acres near
Salem, as well as orchards from as
far east as Bend and as far north as
Washington. All the fruit is organic
and grown in the Northwest.
In marketing the cider, Kohn has
become a walking Wikipedia of
historic alcohol production knowl-
edge, and while some of that is no
doubt due to the passion he has for
his work, it’s also because Kohn is
essentially inventing his own mar-
ket. Retailing at around $12 to $16
per 25.4 ounce bottle at local
stores like Capella and the Beer
Stein, Wandering Aengus
product is roughly twice the
price of some competing hard
ciders. The product is billed as
“artisan,” and while the taste
may be worth it, at times Kohn
is cast as an automatic apolo-
gist for the price point, evan-
gelizing the cider’s wholesome,
additive-free content.
Kohn points out that in
many parts of Europe, cider
forms one leg of a troika of
pub choices, along with wine
and beer. “America is one of
the only English colonies where cider is
dead,” he says. Now Wandering Aengus
wants a resurrection, and has select
Portland watering holes offering its Dry,
Semi-Dry and sweet Heirloom varieties
on tap. The young company has its
sights set on draft sales in Eugene as
well. In the meantime, besides distribu-
tion to grocery stores, bottles are
available at Portland farmers’ mar-
kets.
In addition to plans to put the
nectar on tap here in Eugene,
Wandering Aengus will soon roll
out beer-sized 12-ounce bottles.
“We’re going to be able to auto-
mate this and bring a lot of econo-
mies of scale,” explains Gunn. All
the same, he notes that neither his
family nor Kohn “are really in this
to make a lot of money.”
Gunn and Casteel have a
1-year-old daughter, and Gunn
envisions a day she’ll be able
to join the family business —
or rather, either of the family
businesses. “I don’t know
what she’ll want to be market-
ing,” he says, “pinot or hard
cider.”
Good thing it’s more diffi-
cult to knock over a stainless
steel fermenting vat than a
wooden cider bucket.
■
Wandering Aengus’ tasting room is open
on Memorial Day and Thanksgiving
weekend, and by appointment. (503)
361-2400. www.wanderingaengus.com
BLOGS.
EUGENE
WEEKLY
JULY IS
OREGON
CRAFT BEER
MONTH
Humble Brewers
of Delicious Beer
22oz. Bottles coming
Summer 2009!
1055 Madera St. Eugene, OR 97402
www.eugeneweekly.com
oakbrew.com
• In celebration of Oregon Craft
Beer Month, we will be offering
discounts on all fine Oregon brews
for the entire month of July.
• Our celebration will begin on
June 29th, 4-6pm, with Ninkasi
Brewing. All bottled Ninkasi brews
will be available to taste as well as
to purchase at a discounted price.
OREGON BREWERIES REPRESENTED
AT CAPELLA MARKET:
Bridgeport, Caldera, Cascade Lakes,
Deschutes, Full Sail, Golden Valley,
Hopworks, Laurelwood, MacTarnahan’s,
Ninkasi, Rogue, Roots Organic, Silver
Moon, Southern Oregon Brewing,
Terminal Gravity, and Widmer Bros.
25th & WILLAMETTE • EUGENE
OPEN DAILY 8AM-10PM
(541) 345-1014
www.capellamarket.com
.COM
& Brewpub
Over 20 styles of beer brewed
right on-site, including our
award-winning Chili Beer.
Ranked Best Burger in Albany
by Kenneke.com!
Live music three nights a week.
Minors welcome until 6pm
all week.
Bear-Market Mondays! $1 off
everything on the menu!
140 Hill St. NE | Albany, OR
541-928-1931
www.calapooiabrewing.com
THE STATE OF SUDS 2009
5