Welcome to our website.

Please bear with us as we design our new site, which will offer product information, stockists,
tasting notes and online ordering. For now there is more information and pictures below:

Contact us on: 01531 670263 or email: hannah@onceuponatree.co.uk

You are very welcome to visit us and our orchards in our corner of the beautiful Herefordshire countryside, but please give us a call before you visit to check someone will be here!

We're launching our award winnning Kingston Black 2008 at the Cheltenham Food and drink Festival tomorrow - come and see us and have a taste!

   The Once Upon A Tree product range.

13th May 2009 - We've just been awarded the OVERALL CHAMPION'S CUP, CIDER and PERRY for our Kingston Black 2008 Cider at the International Cider and Perry Competition 2009 - Once Upon A Tree has just celebrated its first anniversary.  Winning this award has to be the best birthday present possible.  After a successful first year of trading, we are planning to grow the company significantly, and this has provided a further boost to our confidence.”

We were also recognised in the awards for presentation for the second year running. The cider is sold in clear wine bottles with wine style labels to reinforce the message that these ciders are ideal to enjoy with food.

It was my intention at the outset of the company to make cider and perry that would accompany and enhance good food & to make ciders to savour!

The Kingston Black will be released for sale in late June. Limited quantities available!

Last year we were awarded Three First Places at the International Cider and Perry Competition 2008
(Producer of the Best Dry Cider, Best Medium Cider and Best Presented Cider or Perry)

Here's a photo of cider maker Simon Day with the awards!
(Thanks to the Hereford Journal for use of the photo)

And we were Finalists for Small Drinks Producer of the Year 2008 (Flavours of Hereforshire) seen here with the Hairy Bikers, collecting our award plaque!

Visit www.visitherefordshire.co.uk/ for more details on the Flavours of Herefordshire, and the abundance of food and drink to be found in our county.

Some kind words from Jamie Goode (UK wine writer) on our ciders http://www.wineanorak.com/blog/2008/10/ciders-from-once-upon-tree.html

To buy online, please see Orchard Hive and Vine here: Orchard Hive and Vine

Who / Why / When:

What happens when you let an award winning winemaker loose with the fruit of one of the
best apple orchards in the country?

New company “Once Upon A Tree Ltd” launched its premier apple juice and cider range on 3rd May 2008
to coincide with the Big Apple Association “Blossomtime” event in Putley, near Ledbury in Herefordshire.

Speciality food & drink enthusiasts, Ann & Norman Stanier and Hannah & Simon Day,
founded this new company through a passion to create the best quality apple juice and cider
from the highest quality fruit, whilst continuing to preserve the heritage and tradition of cidermaking
in the area.

The apples are sourced, and the juice and cider made at Ann & Norman’s Dragon Orchard
situated in the heart of the traditional apple growing area of Putley near the Marcle Ridge in
Herefordshire. With a combination of good orchard management, fantastic soils and perfect mesoclimate,
the fruit produced is some of the best available anywhere in the UK, with the apples attaining full
ripeness yet retaining character and flavour. Juice and Cider maker, Simon Day is an experienced
& professional winemaker who decided to turn his hand to cider making after walking through the
local orchards and seeing the potential to use winemaking skills to capture the true characters of the apples
in the juice and ciders.

Products:

Pure Apple Juice
All grown on the orchard, hand picked and pressed with the utmost care.    Packaged in 75cl clear glass bottles to celebrate the colour of the juice. 
The following list runs approximately in order of sharp to sweet in style:
Bramley - £2.95
Crisp and refreshing juice with marvellous full rich fruit flavours on the palate. The perfect accompaniment to breakfast!
Brown’s Apple - £2.95
Unusual to see a cider apple juice, but this bright red variety yields a most refreshing, clean and crisp juice with subtle apple blossom aromas.
Tydemans Early Worcester - £2.95
A refreshing juice, with exotic perfumed notes.  Not overly sweet, with a balancing crispness to the finish
Russet & Bramley - £2.95
The golden juice of the wonderfully sweet and nutty flavoured, Egremont Russet, is blended with a little fresh, crisp tasting Bramley, to give a balanced, medium sweet, apple juice of
exceptional quality.
Discovery - £2.95
The bright red Discovery apple has a delicious hint of strawberry, which this juice captures perfectly. Medium sweet with a refreshing finish.
Spartan - £2.95
The plum coloured Spartan yields a medium sweet juice, with hints of redcurrant on the nose.  A full, and rounded mouth filling palate with a long finish.
Worcester Pearmain - £2.95
A rich, sweet juice, with complex floral aromas and an almost honeyed palate.

Limited Edition Juices:
James Grieve Limited Edition - £3.95
A medium sharp juice of distinction! A nose of stewed apple with floral and pineapple notes. The crisp palate is intense with a finish of cut grass.
Herefordshire Pear Juice Limited Edition- £3.95
A blend of Conference and Comice pears yields a wonderfully sweet, rich and mellow juice bursting with ripe pear flavours.

Cider
All our ciders are made from 100% pure apple juice, fermented by variety and blended
after fermentation. They are all 7.5% abv and all single vintage 2007.
Dabinett - £3.95 - Best Presented Cider or Perry - International Cider & Perry Competition 2008
Dry aromatic, and full bodied, single varietal cider. Wonderful floral nose,
with a good grip from the tannins. Particularly good with roast pork, and
traditional English cooking.
Marcle Ridge - £3.95 - Best Dry Cider - International Cider & Perry Competition 2008
A blend of Ellis Bitter, Brown’s Apple and Dabinett, this dry cider is soft on
tannins, clean apple blossom aromatics and has excellent balance.
Putley Gold - £3.95 - Best Medium Cider - International Cider & Perry Competition 2008
An off dry style, the richness of the Dabinett, Ellis Bitter and Browns Apple
are enhanced by the soft sweetness retained in the cider, with a refreshing
balance and length to the finish.

Once Upon A Tree Glasses - £5 each or £25 for 6

Stockists (list growing daily!):

Orchard Hive and Vine are selling our ciders online, and is the best place to buy our cider mail order until we have organised our own online shop!

Cider Museum in Hereford hold stock, and are very well worth visiting to learn about cider history and cider making.

Llandinabo Farm Shop in Ledbury (juice only). Wonderful butchers shop with home reared meat and excellent hand made pies.

Hop Pocket Wines near Bromyard (full range & mail order available - should also be online soon) also offering tastings.

Over Farm Market near Gloucester (full range). Great farm shop with cheese counter, butchers, and a good range of home grown produce.

Roots @ Little Verzons near Ledbury (ciders only), fantastic farm shop with loads of good local produce.

Truffles Deli in Ross-on-Wye, who also offer a wide range of all things tasty!

Ross Labels in Ross-on-Wye have our products with other local cider and perry producers.

Cameron & Swan a wonderful café and deli in the centre of Ledbury.

Ludlow Food Centre very much worth a visit - much produced on site, and loads of local foods.

Many National Trust Properties in the West Midlands are stocking our ciders and juice. A good excuse for a day out!

Primrose Vale near Cheltenham - A great farm shop, now stocking our juice.

Meet us and taste the products at the Woolhope Farmers Market on the last Saturday of each month.

You're welcome to come to Dragon Orchard by Appointment Only to taste and buy.

Shows and Events

25th & 26th April Local to Ledbury Food Festival www.localtoledbury.com

3rd & 4th May Blossomtime in Putley - www.bigapple.org.uk - for details

9th & 10th May Ludlow Spring Event - www.springevent.org.uk/

13th & 14th June Hellens Manor Garden Festival in Much Marcle

19th - 21st June Cheltenham Food and Drink Festival

More to come....

Mail Order Coming soon!

in the mean time contact: simon@onceuponatree.co.uk

There are more photos in our gallery www.onceuponatree.co.uk/gallery