My friend Chris Buxton has a lovely little cottage in Colle, above Ponte a Serraglio.

This is Chris…I’ll let him tell you the cider story.

At a lovely late September barbecue, looking over an orchard teeming with fruit, missing my English pub and the real ales and ciders, I wondered what is done with all the apples…not much it seems…and no one makes or drinks cider…what a waste.

My friend, Super Mario, as I call him, found the owner, who said I could help myself to the apples. Others knocked on my door and Mario Morotti offered me the apples below his vineyard. If only I had known how steep and how far below!

It looked as though I had passed the point of no return. Thankfully some Ponte people offered their assistance and cider production was underway…with some extra help from Luna.

There was a bit of research, a bit of borrowing equipment from friends and neighbours and some advice from local wine makers.

…some supervision by Luna.

 I won’t bore you with the details, but there’s not an awful lot more to do than get the juice from the apples and let nature take its course.

The end result? Some weak, some strong, some bottled clear and fizzy, some the way traditionalists like it, natural and cloudy.

It has been fun tasting it, sharing it…

…but alas it is not to everyone’s taste.

Thank you Chris for sharing your tale of cider. I hope there is some left when I get back to Bagni di Lucca.