An interview with Chuck Shelton of Albemarle CiderWorks!
Erica Jeter: Tell us about yourself, Chuck - both your cider and non-cider life.
Chuck Shelton: I was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, and grew up on a farm in Amherst County. We moved to Charlottesville, Albemarle County in 1961. I am one of four siblings: Charlotte, Chuck, Bill and Todd. I graduated from Lane High School in 1968.
After two years at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, I spent the final two years of undergraduate work at the University of Virginia (BA Environmental Sciences – 1972)
I spent the next two years working in marine science research facilities in Beaufort and Morehead City, North Carolina, where I met and married Margaret in 1973.
We moved to Raleigh in 1974, and I attended NC State University in the Zoology program (MS Zoology –Aquatic Ecology – 1979).
We moved to Brunswick County, NC in 1979. After a brief stint working for an environmental consulting firm in Wilmington, NC, I began a career in Radiation Health Physics at the Brunswick Nuclear Plant at Southport. I retired from that job in 2005 after 22 years. Margaret and I have three sons – Jay (Decatur, GA), Brock (Lilburn, GA) and Rob (Wallingford, CT).
At that time I started working in our family orchard business, Vintage Virginia Apples, in North Garden, Virginia. We sold fruit from our Rural Ridge Orchard and nearby commercial orchards. We have also operated a fruit tree nursery as Vintage Virginia Apples since 2001.
I began home cider making from some of the apples that I access to as early as 1999. In 2006, Rob and I attended the Beginning Cider Maker course, taught by Peter Mitchell, at the Cornell University Geneva Research Station.
In 2008, we decided to launch our cider business, obtaining our TTB and Virginia ABC license in the fall of 2008. We commenced making cider at that time, and opened Albemarle CiderWorks (ACW) in July 2009. Our initial three cider offerings were Jupiter’s Legacy, Royal Pippin and Ragged Mountain.
In the past 11 years, we have expanded our offerings to 20 labels, 7 of which are single apple varieties. Most of our cider is dry, mostly brut (< 5 g/L residual sugar). We currently back-sweeten two of our ciders (2 g/L is the highest level). I would characterize our products as an American Cider, using mostly heirloom American varieties.
EJ: Tell us about your role at Albemarle CiderWorks and Vintage Virginia Apples, and a bit of history of the orchard and cidery, and the Shelton family and cidery team.
CS: I have been the principal ciderist at Albemarle CiderWorks (ACW) for all 11 years of our existence. In addition, I also help tend the Rural Ridge Orchard (ours) and the Vintage Virginia Apples tree nursery, although Bill currently handles most of the nursery operations since he has retired and moved here.
My job has been, and remains, the selection of fruit, and the subsequent guiding of the fermentations to completion, including packaging the final product. In this regard, I have been able to interact with many of our Central and Northern Virginia apple growers. I like to think that I have had some influence on growers that led them to plant more ‘cider’ fruit, both for ACW and the burgeoning Virginia cider industry. We are particularly pleased with the planting, and increased production of historic American cider varieties, such as Harrison and Hewe’s Crab.
To be clear, we (our family) – Charlotte, Bill, Todd, Anne and I – along with our staff, all have inputs into our cider production. As a small cidery, we average around 9000 gallons (3700-3800 cases) per year. Obviously, this is a bit more than the Shelton family can easily manage, especially considering our ancillary activities. To this end, we have been fortunate to have had help from an enthusiastic staff of cider aficionados. In addition to our dedicated part-time tasting room employees, many who have been with us most, or all, of our 11 years, we have had several excellent full-time associates. From 2012-2018, both Thomas Unsworth and Jennifer Detweiler were instrumental parts of our entire operation. Thomas was my assistant in the cidery most of those years. He also helped with nursery and fruit sales. Jennifer wore a number of hats during her tenure, including tasting room manager, music and event planning, developing orchard workshop curricula, assisting in managing orchard picking and pruning and managing nursery sales for two years. She also helped in apple pressing and was assistant cider maker for a year while Thomas was on paternity leave. Both moved on to other aspirations in 2018, but we were grateful for their long dedication and support. Also, in 2011 Courtney Mailey, founder and owner of Blue Bee Cider in Richmond, spent a year with us to prepare for her start-up in 2012. The transfer of knowledge was reciprocal, as she helped us with business development and marketing.
Currently, we have two full-time employees and one part-time. Alex Gadzik is managing inside sales, including the tasting room, our InCider Club, social media outreach and on-line sales. Lia Pepper takes care of offsite sales, marketing and distribution. Recently she has begun managing on-site events – weddings, group meetings, music etc. David Timmerman has been my assistant in the cidery for almost two years. Many of you may know him as an experienced home cider maker. I feel fortunate to have David’s experience and expertise, even if only two days each week. He has melded very easily into our cider operation without training. I highly value his inputs, and I am making better cider because of his presence. Plus, it frees me somewhat to take care of orchard work and other business.
EJ: Regarding cider during the time of Coronavirus, many of us have really been enjoying Albemarle CiderWorks’ virtual tastings and bottle bundles for the last few months. As Virginia slowly reopens, our cideries are finding creative ways to accommodate the safe return of happy cider drinkers. How is Albemarle CiderWorks welcoming people back to the tasting room, and what would be a good plan for a visit? I am personally taking notes, as I plan to visit soon.
CS: Like all other cideries, we have had to endure the impact of not being open directly to the public. Of course, we had to alter our cider sales and marketing during the past several months. Fortunately, we had already begun on-line, multi-state sales through Vinoshipper, and to a certain extent, Wine Direct. With complete lockdown of the tasting room, and loss of most of our offsite distribution, we have increased our presence on social media platforms. Hence, we have our virtual tastings. We have absorbed some of the shipping cost, and Alex has put together several reduced cost packages to boost sales. Many members of our cider club have elected to have their quarterly packages shipped. We also offered curbside pickup, and, in Virginia, a limited delivery option. A lot of this may remain in place as we exit the lockdown.
With the targeted gradual relaxation of onsite activities, we have cautiously reopened our tasting facility to customers. Anne and Alex have been exceptionally careful to follow all necessary requirements of sanitation (including face masks for all employees (a shout out here to Anne’s sister Laura for her excellent sewing ability), and disposable gloves for servers) and social distancing. Initially, we offered bottle sales only, and outside seating. Recently, we were able to partially reopen some of our inside seating (especially important for inclement weather, or the sun/heat intolerant). We also are now offering limited cider flights in disposable glasses. Our tasting room staff are wiping down tables and seating between customers with a disinfecting cleaner, and bathrooms are being wiped down multiple times each shift. Overall, it means more staff for less sales, but we are grateful to inch our way back to some degree of normality.
Most of our customers have expressed appreciation for our handling of the current situation. We recommend reservation for groups, or customers with special needs. Individuals or couples can usually be accommodated within our current seating arrangement. We have started to provide live music again on Saturdays from 2:30-4:30 PM.
EJ: Cider is often about experiences and moments. Can you share one of your most memorable cider moments with us?
CS: To be certain, there isn’t just one. Looking back…..
The apple tasting at Monticello in 1993, with Tom Burford and Peter Hatch. Tasting 50 apple varieties was an eye-opener for me, and it was my first interaction with Tom. He certainly influenced both Vintage Virginia Apples, and hence, Albemarle CiderWorks.
In 2003, Charlotte, Tom, my wife Margaret and I attended a NAFEX (North American Fruit Explorers) conference in Concord, New Hampshire. At that conference I met Ben Watson, Michael Phillips, Claude Jolicoeur and Nicole Liebon. I crossed paths with these folks on numerous occasions since. I carried along some of my earlier home cider efforts to share. I remember getting a lot of favorable comments, including from Michael and Claude. The one that influenced me the most, however, was from Nicole, who was pouring Farnum Hill ciders at an event the first night. When she tasted mine…”this is very good Chuck”. That, probably as much as anything else, encouraged me to believe that I could produce a commercial cider.
The 2009 Vintage Virginia Apples cider forum hosted Terry Maloney, of West County Cider. Ben Watson had shared some of Terry’s cider at an earlier cider forum, and I was very favorably impressed. Terry was a pioneer of modern cider, and he was complimentary of cider I had produced. I feel fortunate to have met Terry, and to have known him, if only briefly.
The first pressing of Harrison apples in 2005. The juice was thick, like honey, slowly running from our old hand press (17 Brix, 1.072 SG).
EJ: Cider has a long history in America and in Albemarle County, Virginia, yet many of us are discovering it anew. What was your introduction to cider, and what's the first cider that really impressed you? Yours was the first cider that really knocked my socks off - thanks for that.
CS: I, like everyone else, am still discovering cider. I guess the earliest memory I have of cider was siphoning it from a barrel behind Charlie Scharr’s barn. I was probably 5 at the time, riding with my Dad, who was then the Amherst County Forest Fire Warden. That was the stuff!!! It was nice and bubbly, but still somewhat sweet. Fast forward 45 years. I had started to ferment some of the juice from apples that I had access to at Vintage Virginia Apples. Some of the early ferments I had in the late 90’s were very good. I was not the only one who thought so. It was hard to keep us in cider. The one that shot the cork over the roof of a two-story house in New Hampshire, and then proceeded to well up out of the bottle like an artesian spring, got a lot attention, and favorable response as to its flavor. If I could only repeat that consistently…. Sometime around then, my brother Todd scored some Woodchuck Amber while campaigning for Senator Leahy in Vermont. It was my first commercial cider, and I really liked it. I don’t remember it being as sweet as it is now though. In our earliest cider forums at VVA, Charlotte was able to procure French cider by Etienne DuPont and Dry Blackthorn by Gaymers of England from a local wine shop. I really liked these. Then, when Ben Watson started to attend our forums, sometime 2004 and after, he brought exotic (to me) American ciders from West County, Farnum Hill and Eve’s Cidery. In 2005, Diane Flynt launched Foggy Ridge Cider, and her Serious Cider is still one of my favorites.
EJ: When you're not drinking your own ciders, what are you generally drinking? Any cider recommendations for us?
CS: I like mostly dry, crisp, clean ciders. I hesitate to offer a favorite, because everyone has their own taste, and there are so many great ones being made. I will, however, share some that I have had, and consider to be exceptionally good – to my taste.*
US West County (esp. Redfield and Pippin), Farnum Hill (Extra Dry and Kingston Black), Eden, Eve’s, Black Diamond, Big Fish, Red Byrd, Slyboro, Uncle John’s (Melded, Russet), Haykin Family (the drier ones), Alpenfire, Dragon’s Head, Snowdrift, Finn River, Tieton, Tilted Shed, Big Hill
UK Oliver’s, Ross-on-Wye
NZ Peckham’s, Paynter’s, Abel, Forecast
*Disclaimer: So, if your cider, or your favorite ciders are not listed here, it could be because of 1) my poor memory, 2) I haven’t tasted it yet, or 3) space limitations (I ran out of time and paper). Also, I am on a deadline and I rushing to get this to the editor, and I’m tired of typing.
EJ: Thanks for this, Chuck, it’s been a pleasure. Anything else you'd like to add?
CS: Yes! Thanks to The Cider Exchange members for supporting Albemarle CiderWorks and all cideries during this crisis. You and your friends will make a difference in who survives as a cider business henceforth, especially small, independent cideries. Thanks to Damin and Ryan for putting together the cider club matrix. Cheers!
Albemarle CiderWorks
2545 Rural Ridge Lane
North Garden, VA 22959