About Us


The People Behind Cider Is Wine

“You can’t compare apples with pears!” Or so we were told when we were young.

It’s certainly not the case when it comes to comparing mass market ciders with those that are made like wines, that is to say  exclusively from 100% juice without the use of any concentrates.

After many years working in the drinks sector, with considerable experience of marketing and selling wines, it came as something of a surprise to both Alistair Morrell (on the right of the picture) and Roddy Kane that there are no global standards for cider and perry production (most mass market ciders in the UK contain as little as 25% apple or pear juice, all of which can come from concentrate). It just didn’t make sense: why would products made like wine not be recognised and have standards applied, as they do with grape wines?

Back in the early 1990’s (whoops showing our age now) the wine industry was still dominated by the French which, ironically, caused Alistair & Roddy’s paths to cross when along came Australian wines which caused the French (and, indeed, German) wines to sink through the floor. Indeed, they’ve never recovered their market share from that time.

Roddy’s experience with Barramundi, a trail-blazing Australian wine, Food and Wines from Spain and German wines, and Alistair’s with Booths, Asda, then Yellow Tail (probably the most successful Australian wine brand ever), the Domain Paul Mas brand, and then Stormhoek (the first internet-marketed wine brand – and the first wine brand to sport ‘100% satisfaction guaranteed or your money back’) – demonstrated commitment to real and successful consumer propositions that mattered to people.

The parallels with other products made like wine – indeed, following the globally accepted standard that a wine made from grapes must contain 100% grape content with no concentrates –  were clear: small producers with little market voice (and even less resource) passionately wanting to connect with consumers demanding an authentic and real product.

Cider Is Wine is a quality mark that brings together the highest quality makers – products fermented exclusively from apples, pears and other fruits, not-from-concentrate. A single recognisable proposition delivered on every bottle around a simple (100%) truth that everyone can understand.

Our mission: to show the market that these products– we call them orchard wines – do add up to total deliciousness.

Happy discoveries – happy drinking!

Alistair Morrell

Founder & Chief Cider Officer

Roddy Kane

Chief Cider Marketing Officer