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8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016 Northwest hard cider-makers see good times ahead By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press If industry insiders are correct, hard cider produc- ers in Oregon and Washing- ton are positioned where craft beer -makers and ¿ ne wine- makers were before them. That is, facing some hur- dles, but on a roll, collaborat- ing with each other and poised to get bigger and better. Hard cider — the alcoholic cousin of sweet apple cider — appears to be favored by the same people who like a microbrew or bot- tle of ¿ ne local wine to go with their good food. They appreci- ate quality, want to know the producer’s story and are will- ing to pay more. While the Northeast has much deeper historical roots to cider making, the Paci¿ c Northwest is where the action is, said Ian Merwin, a retired Cornell University apple researcher and professor who grows cider apples and makes cider at Black Diamond Farm in New York’s Finger Lakes region. “It’s a very vibrant sector out there,” Merwin said. “One thing about the Northwest scene, it’s a total free-for-all, no rules. There’s a whole lot of people having a lot of fun try- ing to make cider.” Merwin was among the speakers at “Cider- Con,” the U.S. Cider Asso- ciation’s annual convention that was held in Portland in early February. About 1,200 cider -makers, apple -growers, distributors and others from 44 states and eight countries attended. For now, hard cider is something of a regional suc- cess, and consumption is tiny compared to beer and wine. Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Bottles of hard cider roll toward labeling at Wandering Aengus Cider in Salem . Industry experts believe hard cider is winning consumer acceptance the same way craft beer and fine wine did. Merwin estimated people in Oregon, Washington and California drink 80 percent of the cider consumed in the U.S. Other convention speak- ers said cider accounts for 1.7 percent of alcohol sales nation- ally, but about 4 percent in Portland and Seattle. “We are where wine was 30 years ago and the craft beer industry was 20 years ago,” said Nick Gunn, co-founder with his wife, Mimi Casteel, of Wandering Aengus Cider- works in Salem . “We’ve had a lot of great growth, but we have a long ways to go.” Gunn and others say hard cider takes some getting used to. Many try it expecting a ver- sion of fermented apple Muice, and are surprised by the sub- tle and aromatic À avors of true cider. “People are unfamil- iar with what they’re tasting,” Gunn said. The industry’s biggest hin- drance is a lack of proper cider apples. The best apples for cider are sharp, bittersweet, obscure and traced from old English and French varieties, Gunn and others said. E.Z. Orchards, in north- east Salem, was among the industry pioneers in mak- ing traditional cider from old French varieties. The U.S. is awash in sweet, fresh-eating apples, with Washington the lead- ing producer, but FuMi, Hon- eycrisp, Red Delicious and other familiar varieties don’t make the best cider. Many cider -producers make do with them, however, because there is such a shortage of proper cider apples. Some use apple Muice concentrate from China, Argentina or elsewhere. Educating consumers is key to the industry’s contin- ued growth, said Merwin, the retired Cornell professor. “All us in the cider realm hope they will evolve in their tastes same way wine drinkers have,” he said. “I started working on cider in the 1990s, when nobody was very interested,” he said. “It’s been fabulous to see it take off.” Meanwhile, the push is on to grow more traditional cider apples. Gunn, of Wander- ing Aengus, said he considers himself an “apple evangelist” these days as he hunts scion wood for grafting and encour- ages farmers to plant cider varieties. “If I can get them to grow for our company, great,” he Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Nick Gunn of Wandering Aengus Cider in Salem , believes brand differentiation will become key as consumers refine their taste for hard cider. said. “But at the very least grow them for the industry.” Gunn said he’s met with a mix of enthusiasm and hesita- tion as farmers consider los- ing a couple years production from a ¿ eld or old orchard as new cider varieties take hold and begin to produce. “My selling point is, you’re at the beginning of a trend,” Gunn said. A key advantage is that cider varieties can be mechan- ically harvested and used even if they’re bruised, beaten up or fall to the ground, Gunn said. “They don’t have to be cod- dled,” he said. Gunn and others in the industry say it’s blessed with a cooperative spirit, as grow- ers and cider -makers seek each other out, ask questions and offer help. “It’s a very social drink,” Gunn said. “It lends itself to being collaborative. We’ve had that sharing atmosphere from the beginning.” Generational shift stunts wine appetites, experts say U.S. wine drinking growth expected to halt temporarily By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press PORTLAND — Genera- tional changes are expected to sty- mie per-capita U.S. consumption of wine in 2016, at least temporar- ily stunting the longtime upward trend, experts say. The baby boomer genera- tion, which consumes the most wine, is now preparing for retirement and feeling pressure to spend less and save more, said Mark Freund, managing director for Silicon Valley Bank, which tracks the wine industry. Meanwhile, the millennial generation faces its own ¿ nan- cial concerns — such as paying off student debt — and isn’t as dedicated to wine, he said last week during the 2016 Oregon Wine Symposium in Portland . Over the long term, though, there’s reason to believe that his- tory will repeat itself and young people will come to prefer wine as they grow older, Freund said. Other economic factors cut both ways. Fuel prices are lower, allow- ing consumers to spend more on wine, but the volatile stock mar- ket has raised concerns about recession and inÀ ation-adMusted incomes remain À at, he said. ³,t’s dif¿ cult for the middle class to get ahead when there hasn’t been real wage growth,” Freund said. U.S. wineries can also expect to face more foreign com- petition: While the output of wine-producing countries such as France, Italy and Spain has trended upward, their domestic consumption is down, he said. That means those coun- tries will be eager to export to the U.S., which has emerged as the top wine consumer in the world, he said. Young drinkers’ appetite for craft beer doesn’t necessarily have to come at the expense of the wine industry, said Chris- 3 Oregon wine sales Oregon winegrape production (Thousands of tons) 2.68 (Millions of cases) Sources: USDA NASS; Southern Oregon University Research Center 2 Sources: USDA NASS; Southern Oregon University Research Center Alan Kenaga/Capital Press 56.2 Alan Kenaga/Capital Press 38.6 0.89 2.86 million: Up 6.9% from 2013 1 50.2 31.2 0 1998 ’00 ’02 ’04 tian Miller, proprietor of Full Glass Research, a market anal- ysis ¿ rm. The popularity of craft beer is associated with consum- ers seeking higher quality and more intense À avors, which is a “cultural trend” that may also help wine, he said. “What they’re shedding is the Budweisers and Coors of the world,” Miller said. The millennial generation represents about 30 percent of the “high frequency” class of U.S. wine drinkers, who ’06 ’08 ’10 ’12 2014 buy roughly 80 percent of the wine in the U.S., he said. Baby boomers comprise 38 percent of high -frequency wine drinkers, while the older generation represents 13 per- cent and Generation X rep- resents 19 percent. Sparkling wines are expe- riencing consistent growth since 2010, which may bring new consumers to the overall wine industry, Miller said. Consumers associate Ore- gon wines with small pro- ducers, food friendliness and 2007 ’08 ’09 ’10 good value, though the region still isn’t as well-known as the Napa and Sonoma regions of California, he said. The main reasons cited by high-frequency drinkers for not buying Oregon wine is that they prefer wine from other regions, that Oregon wines aren’t available where they shop and that Oregon doesn’t produce the varietals they commonly drink, Miller said. In 2016, Oregon wine pro- ducers surveyed by Silicon Valley Bank said they expect ’11 ’12 ’13 If you smell ROTTEN EGGS it could be a gas leak. And the best thing to do is leave your home and call NW Natural. We’ll be out to make sure everything is safe. Unsure of what to do? Just take a look at our tips to the right. 800-882-3377 2014 sales to increase 13 percent in value and 9 percent in vol- ume, which reÀ ects the trend of consumers “trading up” to higher-quality wines, said Freund. However, about 28 percent of Oregon wineries said they were experiencing poor ¿ nan- cial performance, compared to 16 percent for all winer- ies surveyed, he said. Oregon wineries also reported being more willing to sell their com- panies than the industry as a whole. How to identify a possible gas leak. Smell. Go. Let Us Know. Up 31% from 2013 41.5 40.2 34.7 78.3 If you smell a rotten egg or sulfur odor, you hear a blowing or hissing sound, or you see blowing dirt, it could be a gas leak. What to do. Leave your home and the area immediately. Don’t use any electrical device such as a light switch, telephone, appliance or garage door opener. And don’t try to fi nd the leak yourself. Who to call. Go outside and use your cell phone, or a neighbor’s phone, and call NW Natural at 800-882-3377.
