Maker: Left Foot Charley, Traverse City, Michigan, USA
Place of origin: Engle Ridge Farm, Grand Traverse County, Michigan, USA
Apples: Various European heritage varieties.
ABV: 7.8%
Price: $8/500 ml (LFC website)
Appearance: Gold with steady bubbles.
Nose: Strawberry, caramel, cut apple.
Palate: Tingly, medium light bodied, and dry. Granny smith.
Finish: Clean, apple butter.
Parting words: Left Foot Charley is best known for making some of the best single vineyard wines in Northern Michigan, but they also make some of the best single orchard ciders in Northern Michigan!
This is a great example. Engle’s Ransom isn’t a brash, funky Iberian or Norman cider. It’s a crisp, clean expression of the apples that went into it and the stony vineyard they came from. There’s a little sweetness and bitterness that keep it from turning into Pellegrino, but it’s still dry and refreshing on a hot summer afternoon.
At $8 for half a liter, this is an easy buy. Engle’s Ransom is recommended.
Sipology 