Wild West Cider - Meet The Maker

Apologies, it's been a hot minute but time for something cool - up next in our Meet the Maker series, is Matt Stephenson, founder of Wild West Cider.

Matt and son in law Sean set out to make wine but fell into making cider when frost wiped out their first crop of grapes. Wild West Cider start the process with hand picked apples from local orchards which are milled, pressed and left to 'do their thing' in stainless steel tanks - it produces traditionally made cider using naturally occurring yeast that spurs on the fermentation process producing a variety of really delicious blends and flavours.

Let's dig a little deeper and find out all about Wild West Cider...

Tell us about you Matt

I was born in Sheffield (that well-known cider city!) but have lived in and around Bristol for the last 40+ years.  I spent over 30 of them working in offices and getting the train to and from London.  It was never in my life plan to be a farmer - I have my lovely wife Philipa to thank for that! But having become a farmer I was determined not to work with animals, so grapes and apples seemed a good option at the time.  

At the start of lockdown, my daughter Molly and son-in-law Sean came to stay for the weekend and never left so Sean is now running the business with me. We are a good combination because he is much more practical than me and has taken over the production and operations side of the business. I focus more on the back office and marketing but will occasionally help out in the harvest period where Sean tells me what to do!

We'd love to learn more about Wild West Cider

People often ask where the name came from.  The serious answer is that our cider is 'wild' - it's fermented naturally with no addition of sugar, yeast or sulphites, we're in the West Country and it's cider!  The less serious (and more truthful) answer is that it gives us (well mostly me) the perfect excuse to dress up as a cowboy, which I do at every event where I am officially "on duty" whether here at home or a Sunday market or food festival.  

For me the name captures what we're all about, that is, we want to stay close to nature, and at the same time we realise we're in the business of helping people enjoy themselves - so we don't take ourselves too seriously!

Why did you set up the business - tell us about the process

Again, fate has taken a hand here. We originally decided to make wine so we planted a vineyard. We also converted an old agricultural barn into a winery/cidery which we share with two other businesses.  

In 2020, while we were all struggling with lockdown, we experienced the hardest May frost for 40 years and lost our entire first grape harvest. A couple of weeks later a local orchard owner contacted us to tell us he unexpectedly had a whole orchard's worth of apples available and could we do anything with them.  So that's when we decided to get into cider making and the rest as they say is history!  

What we're all about is making small batch, low intervention, fine ciders, all packaged in 750 ml wine bottles, and marketed essentially as an alternative to wine rather than beer.  We have now added a gin to our portfolio (using our cider as botanical) and we are steadily getting closer to releasing our first wine for sale.

Our purpose is to make products which stay as close to nature as possible. We have converted all our farmland to organic, we have planted a new woodland and hedgerows to provide a welcoming habitat for wildlife. We want to make a business which is sustainable in all senses - environmentally and financially - and to leave the farm in a healthier state than we found it.

What’s the most recent development in your business?

We've recently launched two traditional method ciders, that is to say made in the same way as champagne. So we started with a still cider which underwent secondary fermentation in the bottle, was aged on the lees for three years and disgorged to remove sediment prior to release. We think they are delicious and I am pleased to say they are proving hugely successful.

Can you share a highlight of running the company so far?

We've had some external recognition which is always a boost. We've won quite a few awards for what is still a very young company, and we have featured on national TV and radio.  But that's rather a dull and predictable answer!  

So I'm going to say a highlight of running the company is our Christmas parties, which always take place in the cidery, always go on too late and take a couple of days to recover from. We have a fantastic team who really enjoy each other's company and Christmas very handily comes just after the end of harvest season, so it gives us the perfect excuse to celebrate the end of a really hectic period.

Any key struggles and what are the lessons you've learnt?

As I have mentioned, we have had our fair share of struggles getting the vineyard established.  A combination of frost, disease and other factors have conspired to make it quite difficult to really get into wine making in the way we originally anticipated.  For me the lesson we've learned is (1) to be persistent (2) take the setbacks in your stride and put them down to experience and (3) don't be afraid to change the plan slightly and try something different - as we did with the cider.

Any advice to other ‘makers’ that are maybe just starting out or sitting at a crossroads?

I think I would say that people really seem to enjoy hearing the story of how we started, what the name means etc.  So I would suggest to anyone starting out to take some time to work out the story and the purpose of your business. And try to find a name and brand that encapsulates and resonates with that. This really sets the tone for everything that follows. We often get people coming up to us and saying "I don't drink cider but I just had to stop and say I love your brand".  That is always a delight to hear!

This may be difficult to answer, but what’s your favourite of your ciders?

I would say it depends on my mood, the weather and the circumstances.

Personally I tend to like a bit of natural sweetness in cider and at the moment we have a lovely one called Still Hazy which is just packed with layers of apple flavour. It's a still cider, really easy to drink and is proving super popular.  

I also like A Day at the Races, which is one of the traditional method ciders I mentioned earlier. For me it could be a great alternative to champagne or other sparkling wine at a wedding or family celebration. It's dry, almost wine-like in flavour but appley at the same time. So if I'm in the mood for celebration I would pick that, served chilled in champagne flutes.

We're not sure you'd ever want to leave your beautiful farm but when you do, where is your favourite local place to wine and dine?

I think this is the most difficult question!  I am going to say the Clifton Sausage partly because they are close to us, just over the Clifton Suspension Bridge and have recently started offering our cider on their wine list! But also I think that sausage and cider is a pretty winning combination. And, a bit like us, they are all about taking great British ingredients and making something special out of them!

If I'm allowed another one, I'd also like to mention The Cider Box, Bristol's only cider tap room. The owner, Dan, was an early supporter of ours and we've done a few events together, so I know this is a great place to relax and enjoy a few special ciders, listen to some music and maybe even play cider bingo!

Finally, what's next on the road map for Wild West Cider?

Generally, we're just working hard trying to make sure each year is better than the previous one.  However, we are starting to think further ahead now and the key question is how do we scale up without compromising our principles?  We don't know the answer yet but based on our history so far, I'm sure fate will let us know in due course!  We'll keep you posted!

A huge thank you to Matt for such great answers - check out their website for more information and to buy their great tasting, locally and sustainably produced cider. We at The Tale of a Teaspoon are certainly looking forward to a glass or two of At The Races or Good Times this festive season and what a great gifting idea too.

Next in our Meet the Maker series will be Roger Longman of White Lake Cheese.