A story of fruit, foraging and friends.
Bumper is a wild fermented, hand disgorged pét nat. Made in collaboration with our friends at Not Far From The Tree (NFFTT).
NFFTT rescues fruit from forgotten urban plantings in Toronto. Faced with a bumper crop in 2021, they asked us if we could use a few of their heritage apples. Of course we said yes.
The apples in Bumper were picked over multiple weeks from heritage museums and private homes across Toronto. After letting it wild ferment, we bottled it as a pét nat and let it age in glass for 11 months.
Finally, almost a year later, we hand disgorged each bottle to remove the sediment.
What's it like?: Bumper drinks like the finest French cidre, without residual sugar. It smells like papaya, apple skins, guava and orchard leaves in all the best ways.
Your first sip starts with delightfully small, Champagne-like bubbles. It tastes leafy, with a side of juicy white tropical fruits. And it finishes with a hint of farmyard funk, the signature of our native microflora.
It’s worth saving for special friends, but priced to open on a Tuesday.
6.9% ABV | 750mL
Ingredients: Hand-picked, foraged apples. Gluten free
Wild ferment. Zero residual sugar. Hand disgorged. Vegan.
$1000 from this release was donated to Not Far From The Tree.
Alongside apples from private homes, NFFTT picked the apples for Bumper from private homes, and two heritage museums in the city: the historic Windfields Estate, and the Spadina House Museum.
Here is a rough map of the Spadina House planting:
Varietals: Unknown red fleshed apples, Bramley's Seedling, Red Astrachan, Rhode Island Greening, Wealthy, Transparent, Baldwin, Fameuse, Maiden's Blush, McIntosh, Ribston Pippin, Reinette Russet, Red Delicious.
Vintage: 2021
Alcohol: 6.9%
Orchard: Foraged over the course of 2 months from private homes and heritage museums in Toronto.
Vinification: Crushed, pressed and left to wild ferment for 1 month. Bottled Sep 28/2021 as a pét nat. Aged on lees in glass for 11 months. Hand disgorged and recapped Aug 17th/2022. Naturally sparkling, Zero/Zero. Unfined, unfiltered.
Serving Temp: Chilled well. While Bumper has been disgorged, it has Champagne like bubbles.
Reseal bottle with a sparkling wine stopper.
Not Far From The Tree is a project on MakeWay's shared platform, which provides operational support, governance, and charitable expertise for changemakers. The shared platform enables more time and money to go towards achieving greater impact. MakeWay is a national charity that builds partnerships and solutions to help nature and communities thrive together. With the shared platform, MakeWay projects benefit from the support of a mission-aligned community, charitable expertise, and shared administrative resources including: governance, compliance, financial management, human resources, risk management and grants administration. MakeWay has full fiduciary and governance responsibility for Not Far From The Tree.
*Pictured: an NFFTT volunteer picking apples*
