Review of Cidrerie du Vulcain’s Transparente, from Switzerland. Its my first time trying their cider.
Cider: Transparente (2014)
Cidery: Cidrerie du Vulcain
Cidery Location: Le Mouret, Switzerland
ABV: 7.1%
How Supplied: 750ml corked & caged bottles
Style: Swiss semi-dry sparkling cider from native heirloom apples, wild yeast fermented, made using traditional methods
Availability: unknown
Cider Description: Tart apples, peeled and sliced, just starting to brown, waiting to be arranged in a pie crust. With air: cinnamon —the pie is baking. The iron that you’d expect on Cidre de Fer. Floral. Slight animal. Near dry rather than off-dry. Heirloom fruit flavors. The acidity is savory like that of a bright rosé. Salt. A perfectly balanced trinity of salt, acidity, and delicate fruit, delivered with such lightness of texture —that Alpine feeling: not diluted but elusive and aerial, and incredibly refreshing.
Apple Varieties: Transparente de Croncels, Reinette de Champagne, Pomme Raisin, and Rose de Berne
Cidery Description: The cidery was started in 2006 by Jacques Perritaz; here is a great writeup.
Price: $19
Where Bought: Full Throttle Bottles in Seattle WA
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing. Its the first time I’ve seen cider from this cidery or Switzerland.
First Impression: Dark straw yellow hue. Smells funky, yeast-forward and apple-forward.
Tasting Notes: Semi-sweet to semi-dry. Moderate carbonation, medium bodied, with a smooth frothy texture. Mild tartness. Moderate acidity. Mild funk. Hints of sourness, bitterness, and tannins. Notes of apple pomace, yeast, honey, green apple, and grapefruit. Moderate length finish. High apple flavor. Moderate sessionability. Moderate flavor intensity. Moderate complexity.
My Opinion: Awesome! I was a bit put off by the funky scent, but it wasn’t as apparent in the flavor as it was in the scent. Great apple-forward flavor without tasting like alcoholic apple juice.
Most Similar to: A combination of typical ciders from Normandy and Brittany France.
Closing Notes: Fun fact – the cidery’s name is from the local Vulcan butterfly that feeds on the juice of fallen apples. Too bad I haven’t seen any of their other ciders locally. This was the first time I saw this one, so hopefully more will make it here soon.
Have you tried any ciders from Cidrerie du Vulcain? What did you think?
Cider Says 
Great review! I’ve had this one and their Cidre de Fer (which I personally liked a bit better). But both were good. Wish their ciders would make their way to the West Coast more often.
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Hi Brett – Thanks for checking out my review! I’ve only seen (and tried) Vulcain;s Transparente and Premiers Emois, and loved both of them. However, I haven’t seen their ciders anywhere besides where I bought those bottles (and they were both specialty shops in Seattle proper, and I don’t get there too often). Its always fun to find unique bottles.
Distribution of imports is really inconsistent. I’ve been having a heck of a time finding any decent English cider lately. Its a favorite of mine. I had a couple go-to selections, but one distributor went out of business and the other dropped the cidery, so my options are way limited. I went to another shop and bought out everything they had left. I’m thinking of ordering a case online, but even there, options are limited as many places only ship to certain states.
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Cidrerie du Vulcain is easy to get. It’s been in the Washington market since 2014ish, and another interesting bit of info is that he worked with Eric Bordelet before starting his own cidery.
I have carried the ciders at a wine shop in Olympia called The Wine Loft for quite sometime;)
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