How we make our cider

1 - How we make our cider

The way we make cider has hardly changed over the years. We have maintained our traditional methods by following the advice that has been passed down through the generations. Trabanco has created its own seal and has incorporated new technologies, advancements, innovations and sanitary measures to it. The combination of all these elements has resulted in the best natural cider products around today. We also have the highest number of hectares in production.

Emilio Trabanco´s knowledge is present in our daily work. And his knowledge has been improved upon with contributions from each generation of the family. The second generation introduced racking -mixing different barrels to achieve the ideal cider- which is now an established practice in the cider world. Along with the incorporation of high-capacity barrels, there was a time when having deposits of 25,000 liters was an adventure in itself.

The third generation of Trabanco family cider-makers worked with the first oenologist specialized in the cider world. This expert provided their knowledge, work method, rigorous analysis and professional point of view to the traditional way of making cider. The oenologist´s work helped Trabanco diversify and motivated us to introduce new products into the market. Apple byproducts (juice, vinegar...) and new versions of the cider started to excel, such as sparkling cider and new expression natural cider.

The fourth generation of Trabanco cider-makers have joined our forces and continue working on renovating the know-how of our origins.

The values we want to maintain are the traditional ones: the knowledge and quality that have defined Trabanco´s story. Our identity will continue defining our advancement in these modern times. We have consolidated innovations made over the last few years, with new products. Brut nature PomaÁurea, new international cider varieties... to position Trabanco Cider in the domestic and international markets.

The third challenge we are working on is introducing cider and its culture to all of Spain and the rest of the world. Trabanco cider is already consumed in Europe, America, Oceania... We cannot wait to see what is next!

2 - APPLE ORCHARDS

APPLE ORCHARDS

Trabanco owns more than 100 hectares of apple tree plantations. Our team works year-round to guarantee quality raw materials that meet the needs of our different types of cider.

We combine traditional methods with the most advanced farming techniques to keep our apple orchards in the best conditions possible and to achieve optimum performance for each variety.

We plant new varieties, recover traditional ones and take care of our orchards to protect them from disease and pests. We prune our trees periodically and use natural treatments to avoid nate bearing (or biennial bearing)... And all to make sure our apples can serve as the base we need to make the highest quality cider out there.

3 - Harvest

From September to December, Asturias is covered with apples. This is harvest season: when we schedule apple picking at their optimum maturation. The secret to success is to harvest right on time.

There are varieties that mature early, others that mature later... Our team picks apples non-stop, every day. The apples are then transported to our large apple storage bins in Sariego and Lavandera. We wash and the best apples there; they then move onto the next process.

4 - GRINDING AND PRESSING

After having harvested the apples, it is time to grind and press them. In other words, the apples are cut into pieces and pressed to extract their juice. That juice will later be moved into barrels and deposits.

We combine traditional methods with the most advanced farming techniques to keep our apple orchards in the best conditions possible and to achieve optimum performance for each variety.

5 - FERMENTATION

From the cider mill to wooden barrels. The apple juice is moved to the barrels. There, they spontaneously and naturally start the fermentation process.

Our natural yeasts are in charge of carrying out this process, which is divided into two parts: alcoholic fermentation and malolactic fermentation.

This is where the art of the cider-maker comes into play: he controls the cider´s fermentation, testing it and caring for it to make sure that each and every one of the juices that are being transformed into cider have no defects. At the same time, he boots its virtues.

Racking, or mixing of ciders from different barrels, takes place during the final fermentation phase. This is when the cider-maker carefully decides what he is going to do: what cider he is going to mix and with which percentages to obtain the tasting notes that define the cider (in our case, Trabanco cider)

6 - FINAL TASTING

Once fermentation has finished, it is time to taste it. Our team of technical and recognized cider tasters tries the ciders that have finished fermenting and decides if they are ready to be bottled.

We take it one step further with TrabancoHomegrown NaturalCider(TrabancoCosechaPropia). This tasting forms part of the exhaustive regulations that ciders accredited with the Apple-Selected Cider seal go through before going on the market with the quality back-label. A group of well-known tasters examine the ciders presented for qualification. Only those that pass go on the market with this back-label.

7 - BOTTLING

We have two bottling plants, located in Lavandera and Sariego. We process the different varieties of our ciders here and it is also where we prepare them to be released onto the Asturian, domestic and international markets.

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8 - LOGISTICS

We use a mixed distribution system where we combine our own fleet of delivery trucks with different logistical service providers. Our ciders reach hundreds of cider bars, restaurants, bars, wine shops, grocery stores... throughout all of Spain and in different parts of the world.

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9 - CONSUMPTION

And there is just one single end goal to all of this: that you enjoy Trabanco cider as much as we enjoy making it! Get ready for a long pour!