From Here: a conversation with place
Beginning in 2020, Katie Selbee (one of two cidermakers at Twin Island Cider) embarked on a clay vessel building project inspired by the Georgian tradition of fermenting wine in clay qvevri. She dug clay from a pond site near the cidery and, after successful kiln firing tests, began hand-building large amphoras layer by layer, and has been releasing her first clay-aged ciders under the name From Here.
The potential to ferment and age more of our batches in Gulf Islands clay is exciting. It offers a more detailed portrayal of our region’s terroir than imported oak barrels, and brings interesting oxidative effects that aren’t possible with stainless steel tanks.
The project is slow and small scale at this point, so most batches will only be available to our Cider Club. To read more about the hand digging/vessel making process, pick up a copy of Pipette Magazine Issue 9 (or join the Club!).
“The trees, clay and stone here have been gently used for tools, art and food storage from time immemorial by the Coast Salish nations indigenous to this region, but the defining relationship between settlers and the land has been exploitively industrial in scale. For me, as a settler, this simple, slow process which begins with a bucket and shovel is a revelation of how normalized industrially-mined and manufactured equipment is in North-American cider/winemaking. Becoming intimate with and curious about the land I live on has provided me with an alternative.”
