Warm summer means 2025 may be vintage year for Scottish cider (but a cold winter looms)
In an age of doom and despondency, there is something uplifting and encouraging about the life-cycle of the apple tree
Once upon a time, the weather was forecast by old men in tweed caps. They would suck on a length of straw, watch how the fox built its den and predict a fine Easter. They were probably as reliable as the Met Office but things have changed a lot since then.
Or at least I thought they had. Down an endlessly winding lane in deepest Somerset in April, I bumped into Britain’s cider king. Julian Temperely has been making it the traditional way since the 1960s. Looking out over the orchard, he sniffed the warm air and confidently declaimed the early frost-free blossom on the trees meant a fine summer and bumper apple crop to come. And he was right.
Five months on, we’ve had the warmest summer in years and we’re still enjoying the fruits of it. If you are lucky enough to have crops in the garden, you will know what I mean. The long sunny months produced bumper crops of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and cherries and forecasters are now predicting a vintage year for apples as well.
Pies, crumbles and turnovers
Orchard owners say the mild spring followed by high temperatures and plentiful sunshine during July and August combined to produce a crop the like of which has seldom been seen. That’s good news for all of us.
Supermarket Tesco has reported double-digit growth in berry sales this summer and expects sales of domestic apples to rise at least 10 per cent. So expect lots of apple pies, crumbles and turnovers but also something else.
Last year UK cider sales topped £2 billion for the first time as low-alcohol varieties attracted younger drinkers and the big brands moved to more premium products. This autumn Showerings Cider in Somerset is expecting a crop of up to 3,000 tonnes of apples, compared with 1,000 tonnes harvested last year.
A memorable vintage?
Here in Scotland, Ed Hill from Barn Owl Orchards in Angus told me: “There is a growing demand from people to know where their food and drink comes from. Cider ticks all the boxes for that.”
So could this be a vintage year for cider in Scotland? Could this be one to remember? “Being a craft product, it does vary year on year,” said Ed. “Based on the warm weather and the sweet apples it produced, I think the hope is that 2025 will be a vintage to look out for.”
In an age of doom and despondency, there is something uplifting and encouraging about the life-cycle of the apple tree. Nothing the news throws at us can get in the way of the first appearance of the blossom and then the slow emergence of fruit hanging from the branches.
James Grieve is an old variety of apple tree, dating from Edinburgh in the 1890s. I have one in my garden. Old and gnarly, it apparently dates from the Second World War. The tales it could tell.
Every year, it looks defeated in winter but then springs back into life. And occasionally there is a summer like this one when it is hanging heavy with delicious apples.
But just next door is a holly bush absolutely heaving with green berries that will soon turn pink then red. According to folklore, that means a harsh winter lies ahead. You heard it here first.
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