Peruse the drink menu at this downtown Harrisonburg craft cidery and you’ll find an action-packed list of oddities headlined by a trio of heirloom single-varietals—including the 2022 Black Twig, which won gold at the 2023 Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition, the world’s largest cider contest. But Sage Bird’s most adventurous offering is the Long Night Pommeau. Unaged brandy crafted from its flagship Dry River Reserve is added to a light fermentation of heirloom Harrison and Dabinett apples, then aged for a year or more in freshly-dumped bourbon barrels from Fredericksburg’s A. Smith Bowman distillery. The result is a dark, complex and magnificently boozy port-style apple wine that comes in at a whopping 16 percent ABV. SageBirdCiderWorks.com
This article originally appeared in the Best of Virginia 2024 issue.
