Sparkling Ciders & Juices by Country
Apple cider was a flourishing industry in Europe even before America was discovered. Early 17th century European settlers in the U.S. brought apple seeds with them and began planting orchards. The colonists used their apples to make cider, just as they had done in the Old World. Soon Colonial cider became important as both an agricultural commodity and as a means of exchange. Today commercial apple crops are harvested in 35 of the 48 continental states. (Wikipedia and Slow Food USA) | Aussies, like their American cousins, can thank British colonists for bringing apples to the South Pacific. Captain Phillip made sure he had plenty of apples and apple seed on board when he set sail for Australia in 1788. The Granny Smith apple originated in Eastwood, Syndey in 1867 from a chance seedling propagated by Maria Ann Smith where the name "Granny Smith" comes from. Today's Australia apple crops are harvested between January and October depending on the variety and where it is grown. | Canada's apple growing regions stretch literally from sea to shining sea, from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific. Like the history of their southern cousins, apples have made a similar march across the Canadian provinces. In the early 1600s, settlers began propagating apples as they established self-sufficiency in their new world. The crop moved westward through New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, and eventually into British Columbia by the 1800s. |
If you leave Paris for Normandy you will find a rich, rolling countryside with apple orchards and cider production. Moving on to Brittany you will encounter France's second largest cider producing region. | Just west of Barcelona in northeastern Spain is the city of Lleida. Fruit has been on of the products most identified with the city and the surrounding area. Here apples, pears, peach, cherry, apricot and plum trees produce more than 900 million kilos of fruit annually. One of every two apples in Spain comes from the region. |