Brutes Cider Group Hug

Winemaker: Brad Sawicki, Tobias Eriksson, Nicklas Ivarsson, Joakim Kviberg, Fredrik Winberg

Appellation: Stockholm, Sweden

Fruit Varieties: Swedish apples, pears & plums

Fruit pét-nat made from Swedish apples, pears and semi-carbonically macerated plums from Ekerö. The plums lend a pretty umeboshi sourness with a hint of nuttiness (from pit inclusion). The sorbitol (unfermentable sugar) in the pears elevates the profile to a proper cider, one perfectly balanced in acidity and tannin structure. The label doubles as both a self-portrait of the designer and a tribute to Matthew McConaughey.

Bonded over a mutual love of natural wine, this small group of friends has set out to create their own expression of terroir in the predominantly grape-less—but fruit-rich—land of Sweden. With seemingly more apple trees than people and a cultural history of foraging wild fruit, Sweden is ripe for the picking. Brutes has fused the bounty surrounding them with their admiration of winemaking to produce a range of ciders and fruit pet’nats that will excite and delight, leading you to re-evaluate your own idea of “wine.” As they are fond of saying: “apples are our grapes.”

Just outside of Stockholm, on the islands of Lake Mälaren, apples and pears are handpicked from old orchards that have been largely forgotten, but luckily not abandoned. The fruit is crushed and then left to macerate for varying lengths before pressing. The maceration gives structure and body to cider in similar ways it does to wine, in particular "orange" wines. This approach can produce something thoughtful on its own or provide a solid base to be seasoned with wild fruits (sloe, blueberry, crabapple) and other garden fruits (pear, cherries, quince, aronia). Each vintage brings refinement and new exploration with this vast palette of fruit with the hopes of creating something true to the terroir, but also fun and unique.

Everything is wild fermented, nothing in, nothing out. It's alive, maturing over time, phasing in and out of various stages, eventually settling into a delicious balance.