Success is sweet in Harcourt

By Lauren Henry
Updated November 7 2012 - 5:54am, first published September 28 2011 - 4:41am
MAINTENANCE: Drew Henry prunes his apple trees.
MAINTENANCE: Drew Henry prunes his apple trees.

THE demand is so strong for cider that Henry of Harcourt cannot keep up.Drinking cider is a growing trend in Australia, with the drink continually proving to be the fastest growing alcoholic beverage in the country.Figures from ACNielsen earlier this year showed Australian cider consumption has increased fourfold in the past three years.Drew Henry’s decision to start making cider in Harcourt in 1994 has proved to be a master stroke.He and wife Irene decided to buy the land to grow wine grapes but Mr Henry talked himself out of the winery business, believing cider, a drink the couple became accustomed to during their time spent in England, was the way to go.The couple, along with eldest son Michael, have since modernised, extended and planted new varieties on the old apple orchard to be one of only a handful of cider makers in Victoria.“We knew a little bit about drinking it, but not making it,’’ Mr Henry said.He said their visit back to various farmhouse-type cider makers in England, mostly in the west, convinced them to come back to Australia and join the cider industry.Mr Henry said cider apples were vastly different to eating apples.“They’re very bitter and the tannins give it a really good colour,’’ he said.Mr Henry said he had 43 varieties growing at his property as part of a trial process, but was in the process of grafting eating apples into cider apples.Henry of Harcourt grows about 85 to 90 per cent of the apples they use on their property, buying in some pink ladies and pears.He said Harcourt was becoming quite a hub for cider.“We have two cider makers, us and Adam Marks at Bress, two growers and another apple grower is going to change to cider apples soon,’’ he said.Mr Henry said the rising popularity of cider was developing so fast his business could hardly keep up.“Everybody is jumping on the bandwagon,’’ he said.But Mr Henry said many were made from imported concentrates, not home-grown cider apples.“We treat it like it’s a wine, not a sweet, fizzy alternative to beer,’’ he said.Henry of Harcourt supplies cider throughout central Victoria and Melbourne, including speciality vegan restaurants because their cider contains no animal products.“Sixty per cent of what we do is wholesale but about 40 or 45 per cent is from our cellar door,’’ he said. “People have started to cotton on to the fact there’s two cider makers in Harcourt.’’Mr Henry said he still enjoyed drinking cider, with different varieties containing different complexities that could be teamed well with various foods.“They are all different – there is as much variety in them as white and red wine,’’ he said.

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