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"The art of distilling has been revived in the orchards of Somerset..." News BBC Radio 4 Food and Drink Programme In December 2009 the Somerset Cider Brandy Co Ltd was been awarded the 'Special Judges Award Best Food Producer 2009' by BBC Radio 4 Food and Drink Programme at an award ceremony in London attended by the great and the good of the food and drink industry, including the Prince of Wales. The judges, chaired by Raymond Blanc, said that the special award was given for the years of dedication and hard work that went into producing a ‘fanastic’ product. Somerset goes to London The Someret Cider Brandy Company Ltd. has been elected to the City guild of the Worshipful Company of Distillers, which means that Julian Temperley becomes a Freeman of the City of London. At Burrow Hill we think that this is a very important recognition for our brandy, and should be of great help with our problems in Brussels. Besides serious dinners in the City, where we can network with the great and the good of the distilling world, we can also drive our sheep across London Bridge and avoid the congestion charge! Brussels update On May 1st 2009, DEFRA phoned to tell us that from May 20th 2009 the words "Cider Brandy" will be illegal! For the moment, while our application for PGI status for Someret Cider Brandy is still being considered, Brussels has told DEFRA to keep their dogs tied up. If current timetables are correct we should know our fate by December - watch this space... Healthier than Wine? Professor Roger Corder of London’s William Harvey Research Institute writes in his book The Wine Diet published by Sphere that he has analyzed the health giving procyanidin levels in red wines and ciders and found ‘ that traditionally made unfiltered Somerset ciders had a level of procyanidins that was higher than many wines’ . He says that these levels can only be found in the pure juice traditionally made products. Commercially made factory ciders have only 1 to 5% of the procyanidin levels of traditional Somerset cider. Brussels again Last Autumn we had another problem with Brussels. The Commission decided to rewrite the 197 pages of spirit regulations which define all the spirits produced in the EC. They wanted to keep the words 'cider brandy', which are in the current regulations, but 5 wine making states objected: France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Greece. They consulted Defra, but in the best traditions of Munich, our ministry decided to keep quiet. They didn't even advise the UK distillers that there were problems. As a result, the words 'Cider Brandy' were dropped. We have had to approach the Commission ourselves and have been hugely helped by one of our regional MEPs, Graham Watson, who has always been a great support. He now heads the European Liberal Democrats and his 102 MEPs hold the balance of power in Strasbourg. We had a meeting with the Commission and, while they declined to amend the regulation they promised to support a Somerset Cider Brandy application for PGI status. This may take two years and hopefully we will end up with Somerset Cider Brandy having the same legal protection as Calvados or Champagne. (The local Tory and UKIP MEPs were of no help). In what we think is a huge coup the Calvados producers association wrote to the Commission in our support and their letter completely destroys any future objections from the French government. So for the next two years it's fingers crossed! Napoli In January 2007 a huge container ship called the Napoli was beached off the coast of East Devon and, amongst its cargo, were containers holding some very fine barrels made with Allier oak, on their way to South Africa to be filled with wine. We acquired some of these barrels, which had been protected from the sea by Bibles in Zulu, and after we received legal guardianship from the Receiver of Wrecks we filled them with 10 year old Cider Brandy. After 6 months in the oak we bottled "Shipwreck" in 50cl bottles in time for Christmas 2007. The bottles have been hugely well received and we will bottle some more for Christmas 2008. A fun story of a superb spirit blended with a little West Country villainy, which has brought a smile to many all over the country. New Bond This year's (2007) distilling is being matured in the new bonded warehouse which has just been built on the farm. You will be able to view this live from a webcam shortly. The new bond means that our control of maturing stock will be monitored more closely and is part of our quest for quality. It will also mean that the Customs and Excise will be able to see what we are up to from their offices in Bristol.