Cider farms and vineyards
Check out, taste and experience one of Somerset's most famous exports. The orchards around Hunter's Moon have been making cider for centuries, and within a few miles you can visit farms where it is still pressed the traditional way, alongside a new generation of vineyards producing award-winning English wine.
Cider farms
Hecks Farmhouse Cider, Street (7 miles)
Six generations of the Hecks family have made cider here since 1841. The farm shop sells more than twenty single-variety ciders and perries straight from the barrel, plus apple juice and local produce. Tastings are free and generous.
Torre Cider Farm, Washford (40 miles)
A family cider farm on the edge of Exmoor with a farm shop, tea room and animals, where you can see the press in action at harvest time. torrecider.co.uk
Thatchers Cider, Sandford (25 miles)
Somerset's biggest cider maker, still family owned, with a visitor centre, tours of the orchards and mill, and the Railway Inn next door. Book tours in advance.
Burrow Hill and the Somerset Cider Brandy Company, Kingsbury Episcopi (20 miles)
Home of England's first cider brandy, with a shop in an old cider barn, a walk up the single-tree hill and a cider bus that goes to Glastonbury Festival.
Wilkins Cider, Mudgley (15 miles)
The most traditional of the lot: a barn, a few barrels of sweet and dry, a bench outside and Roger Wilkins's legendary hospitality. Bring cash and a container.
Sheppy's, Bradford-on-Tone (30 miles)
Two hundred years of cider making near Taunton, with a museum, orchard walks, tours and a restaurant.
Vineyards
Wraxall Vineyard (5 miles) is an award-winning vineyard on the southern slopes of the Mendips, just across the valley from Hunter's Moon, producing still and sparkling wines from its south-facing slopes. Tours, tastings and lunches on the terrace are available in season. wraxallvineyard.co.uk
Pennard Vineyard at East Pennard, a couple of miles from the cottage, is one of Somerset's oldest, with organic wines and ciders. Aldwick Estate near Blagdon, Dunleavy Vineyards in the Wrington Vale and Smith & Evans near Langport are all producing sparkling wines that win national awards, and most offer tours by arrangement. For something completely different, Somerset Cider Brandy at Burrow Hill distils apples into a spirit aged in oak for up to twenty years.
Cider and wine at the cottage
A bottle of local cider is in your welcome hamper, and we are happy to arrange a cider or wine tasting at the house, a guided tour with a driver so nobody has to stay sober, or a case delivered before you arrive. See celebrations and groups. Farmhouse cider is stronger than it tastes (often 6 to 8 per cent), so plan a taxi; see transport links.
Wassail and harvest
January brings wassailing, the ancient custom of toasting the apple trees to ensure a good crop, with cider, song and shotguns in the orchards; several local farms hold public wassails. The harvest and pressing run from September to November, when the whole area smells of apples and the farms are at their busiest and best.
Cider country awaits
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