Perthshire winery Cairn O’Mohr got an early Christmas present this year in the form of 70 tonnes of apples to top up their stock.
The East Inchmichael business suffered a poor crop last year, meaning stocks were running low as it headed into its busiest time of year.
Instead of the minimum 45 tonnes of apples they need, they only got 15 tonnes. A late frost in May last year meant the crops were smaller than usual come autumn.
Thankfully, the offering from gardens and orchards around the Carse of Gowrie has boomed this year.
‘Dependent on good crop’
Cairn O’Mohr co-founder Ron Gillies says due to their seasonality, it can be a feast or a famine when it comes to the crops and their yield.
“Apples are very seasonal, sometimes you get lots, sometimes you get none. That’s the nature of the beast, you get what you can,” he said.
“We sell what we’ve got – you scrape through – it’s just the way it is.
“We got 70 tonnes altogether this year, and we have another few weeks of pressing before we’ll get it fermented.”
His wife Judith adds: “Fortunately, we still had enough cider in tanks from the previous year to see us through to the end of the season and the new cider fermented in September is just ready to drink now.
“If it hadn’t been a big crop year this year, we would have run out of all of our apple drinks: the Vintage cider, Meadowsweet cider, Pictish cider, Mixed Fruit cider, King Jimmy Cider, alcohol-free cider and apple juice.
“We are very dependent on a good crop. Hopefully, we might get another good year next year so we can fill our tanks with cider in case of another poor year in the future.”
Busy season for Cairn O’Mohr
It is a busy time at the winery, as it typically sells a third of its produce – 60,000 bottles – in the run up to Christmas.
On top of dealing with the festive sales and deliveries, the Cairn O’Mohr team is pressing apples, processing wine that was made over the season and bottling it up.
Even after 35 years of making fruit wine and cider, Ron says they are still looking for new flavours.
“We started making wine as a hobby years ago, and it’s grown arms and legs and a tail,” he says.
“It was mostly strawberry, raspberries and blackcurrants, but these days we get cherries, cultivated brambles and all sorts.
“We’re always looking for other things, a recent addition is a wine out of wild gorse flowers.”
In its range of products, Cairn O’Mohr boasts 25 different wines, ciders, sparkling wines and non-alcoholic drinks.
After a break over the pandemic, tours at the winery are starting to make a comeback. Ron also highlights The Pickled Peacock as a reason to come out to East Inchmichael.
While it’s all hands on deck for the Cairn O’Mohr team, Ron still has time to welcome visitors and plan for 2023.
He says: “We’re open seven days a week and there’s plenty of parking. People can come around, get something to eat and fill up their boot – we’ve got handy presents.
“Next year we’ll carry on. We’ve got a customer base all around the country and the home delivery and online business is strong.”
