NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Niagara College’s (NC) cider-production house earned gold and silver medals, and tied for ninth place on this year’s Top 10 Cideries at the U.S. Open Cider Championship held last month.
Niagara College’s Cider 101 won a gold medal (modern cider – dry category, while a recent small-batch product, Les Marmitons Gastronomy Cider, won a silver (fruit and berry cider category).
“At Canada’s first commercial Teaching Winery, we’re proud to continue building on our reputation as a leader in wine and craft-cider production,” says Steve Gill, general manager of NC’s Learning Enterprises, which includes the college’s on-campus Teaching Winery, Teaching Brewery and Teaching Distillery. “Above all, these latest international awards are a tremendous win for our students, who gain hands-on experience producing high-quality products – recognized among the best in the world – and are poised to take the industry to the next level.”
“Cider 101 is designed to be easy-drinking and approachable, and it’s made to simply let delicious Ontario apples shine through,” says Gavin Robertson, college winemaker, instructor and alumnus. “Because we are making Cider 101 year-round, as opposed to the grape harvest which only happens once a year during the fall, our students have lots of opportunities to observe and participate in juice handling, fermentations and packaging of this product throughout their program of study.”
“We have had a long-term relationship with Niagara College, holding monthly cooking events in their culinary kitchen facilities since our inception in 2005. Our support has included a scholarship and bursary fund, as well as the creation of gastronomy wines and ciders,” says Mike Berlis, president, Les Marmitons Niagara. “We have thoroughly enjoyed working with winemaker Gavin Robertson in building up an award-winning portfolio, and we’re very proud of the most recent award given to the Gastronomy Cider.”
