The Producer: Kai Winter @ Kernegaarden

I’ve mentioned Kai earlier on this blog. He was the first that introduced me to “real” cider. Since our first meeting Kai and I have done different project together and discussed the aspects of being a small producer in Denmark. Unfortunately we never discussed his cider production in details. So last week Kai came by Copenhagen for a talk about cider.

Mapping Kais cider production and tasting different ciders.

Here are some of my notes from the meeting.

Kai started producing cider at Fejø in collaboration with some other guys, including Jeppe from Fejø Cider (read more about Jeppe here). Today Kai operate on his own from his small farm Kernegaarden.

His approach to cider is French. The cider is produced from French cider apple varieties that grow in small orchards around the island. Kai buy the apples from the growers and produce cider from these. Kai produce two different ciders, a traditional semi dry cider and “summer cider”.

The production the traditional semi dry cider is very simple and as natural as possible: The apples are matured in plastic nets, then milled, pressed and clarified by Keeving. The cider is racked and allowed to ferment spontaneously for up to 3 months at low temperature. The cider is then filtered, bottled and matured for 2-3 months before sale. This gives a rich and aromatic Danish-French cider.

The “summer cider” varies from the traditional in the duration of fermentation. The summer cider is allowed to ferment longer. After the fermentation the cider is filtered, bottled and added carbon dioxide and is then pasteurized.

I went to visit Kernegaarden a couple of times. Here are some of my shoots from the visit.

Kai in a talk @ Torvehallerne, Copenhagen

Maturation of cider apples

The shop @ Kernegaarden, Fejø

Wooden barrels outside the winery