Using fresh hand-picked apples will give us a high quality hard cider after2 or 3 weeks of fermenting in stainless steel tanks. Once the hard cider is made, we start the acetic fermentation and aging process. This happens in our Founder’s Cellar where we have 36 large French oak casks, each able to hold 5400 litres. This makes our Founder’s Cellar the largest aging cellar of its kind. The hard cider is placed in the casks to age for a minimum of one year. During this time, it is given room to breathe and evaporate out of the wood cask. This process concentrates the flavors while allowing the microorganisms necessary to convert the cider into vinegar to enter the barrels. The longer the aging time, the better the end product is. The mother vinegar (a substance composed of a form of cellulose and acetic acid bacteria that develops naturally during the fermentation process) turns the alcohol into acetic acid with the help of the oxygen present in the air.

The entire aging and fermentation process is closely monitored by our Cellar Master who regularly checks and tests the vinegar in each cask. The result is a deep, complex vinegar that is golden in colour with notes of apple and oak. It is also naturally rich in mother vinegar as it is not filtered nor pasteurized.