The Similkameen Valley’s only cider maker
has squeezed out two more well-deserved industry
accolades this time at the coveted Pacific Northwest
Cider Awards.
Twisted Hills earned a pair of slivers for its
Kingston’s Twist in the Traditional Dry Cider category
and the Calville’s Winter in the Traditional
Sweet Cider category.
Kaylan Madeira said her and partner Jo Schneider
just decided “to go out on a limb and enter.”
“We knew that it would be a long shot as we
would be judged alongside prominent cider companies
some of which have been around for many,
many years. We never could have dreamed of even
placing in such an event,” she wrote in an email to
the Review.
There were 145 ciders entered from 38 cideries
from the US and Canada including Washington,
Montana, Oregon and British Columbia. A private
judging was held over a day and then the winners
announced at a festival June 6 in Seattle.
“We were both amazed and thrilled to have won
silver medals in both the categories we entered into.
It makes us feel really good to see where we are at
with our craft cider and to know that our hard work
and dedication over the years is starting to really
pay off in terms of being a young but notable cider
company.”
Twisted Hills uses only certified organic apples
in its cider.
The young cidery has had an exceptional year
after earning Best Cider at Penticton’s Fest of Ale
event. Twisted Hills then won gold in the fruit category
at the Okanagan Life Magazine Best of BC
Wine Awards.
“Our biggest aspiration is to make quality ciders
and with four awards under our belt this year we feel
that the reception to our cider had been very positive
and we love that people are enjoying it,” she said.