Winery releases ‘The Naked Flock’

WARWICK — Applewood Winery will host a reception on Saturday, Sept. 29, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to celebrate the release of “The Naked Flock,” its new line of hard ciders.
Naked Flock ciders are available in three styles:

Original, which is smoothed over with a touch of natural local honey.
Draft, a drier, lighter style of cider, fermented with Belgian Trappist ale yeast with just a hint of organic maple syrup.
Pumpkin, fermented with locally grown sugar pumpkins.

And, says cider maker Jonathan Hull, all are made with fresh Hudson Valley apples.
“With the demand for gluten free diets and local sustainable products hard cider has come into it’s own,” cider maker Jonathan Hull says on the winery’s Web site. “We don’t add water or grape spirits, flavorings or colorants and that’s why when you open it and you smell it you get a big apple nose. It gives it a look and feel that sets it apart from the competition.”

Back story

Why the name Naked Flock? As told by the winery on its Wed site:
“The Naked Flock Story is an old folk tale from the town of Warwick. There was a Pastor who was great friends with Moby Dick Author Herman Melville. Melville brought the Pastor a gift from a trip to the Orient. Seeds that the Pastor planted in his garden and grew into the most beautiful Poppies that anyone in the town had seen.
“One day the geese broke into the garden and ate the Poppies, and yes, they were those kind of Poppies. The geese fell into a sleep so deep that they were thought dead and plucked by the pastors children for their feathers.
“To everyone’s shock, hours later the geese awoke and staggered around naked.
“The Pastor’s own congregation was horrified by the sight and demanded the geese be slaughtered.
“But listening to the pleas of his children, he decided to take a stand and defend the Naked Flock.”

Essential information

Illustrations about each of the new hard ciders can be found on the winery’s Web site (www.applewoodwinery.com).
Applewood Winery is located at 82 Four Corners Road in Warwick. Call 845-988-9292.