Riestra

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Riestra’s first cider pressing was over 100 years ago, in 1906. The press for that cider was made by the company’s founder, Robustiano Riestra, from a tree he had cut down and it was he who marketed and sold his cider from his own store in Gijón, in the Spanish region of Asturias, under the Riestra brand name.

The company is still family-owned and run by Robustiano’s great grandsons, Raúl and Ruben Riestra, but the size of the company and the range of ciders it produces are very much greater: what hasn’t changed, however, is the passion that underlies the cidermaker’s art to produce the best that Mother Nature provides in terms of quality and taste.

Although today based in Sariego, some 30 kilometres from Gijón, the particular Asturian geography here, hilly, but with gentle limestone slopes and a cooler climate, together with top quality apples all come together to make it perfect for cidermaking.

When it comes to quality and taste, shortcuts are unhappy bedfellows. At Riestra the apples are hand-picked during  October and November, depending on the year, then washed and hand selected for scratting. Using traditional Asturian presses, the pressing process takes about 3 days with the pulp pressed several times to extract all the juice (and apple) flavour with the juice then put into barrels where it remains for several months. Ciders are transferred between barrels both to filter and unify the musts. The ciders develop a natural sparkle when in bottle.

‘Traditional method’ ciders have yeast and a dose added to create a true in-bottle sparkling product and are aged for a minimum of 8 months.

Riestra ciders are available to buy from Cider Is Wine – just click this link: Cider Is Wine Shop – Riestra

SIDRA RIESTRA, s/n, 33518 La Pereda, Asturias, Spain