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OAK Tasmania’s Grove Heritage Nursery has found itself a key player in an Australian cider industry revival.

While beer and wine have always featured high on Australia’s list of favoured alcoholic beverages, it seems the European love of apple cider has come our way with an increasing number of growers and drinkers interested in the cider market. Gaining momentum both internationally and nationally, the cider industry is now one of the fastest growing sectors in the Australian beverage market.

And with Grove housing Australia’s largest collection of hertitage apple trees, demand for the nursery’s stock is set to increase.

 

Grove Heritage Nursery manager Mark Robertson, who attended the inaugural Australian Cider Awards in New South Wales, said the nursery’s stock had put it in a fantastic position.

“As home to Australia’s largest collection of apples, including cider apples, Grove Heritage Nursery is in the unique position of being one of the only commercial sized nurseries with access to a range of specialist cider varieties to service growing demand,” Mark said.

There was also strong interest shown in several unconfirmed varieties held in the Grove Heritage Collection, some of which closely resembled the varieties used by cider growers in France.

Mark said such varieties would play an important part in the industry’s future.

“There is a large amount of interest in a number of unconfirmed varieties held within the Grove Heritage Collection which are of specific interest to the industry going forward,” Mark said.

Many reasons have been attributed to the rise in popularity of cider in Australia (and internationally), including the search for a non-beer drink lower in alcohol than wine and the demand for a non-beer, bottled, alcoholic beverage for female drinkers. However while cider’s popularity in Australia was unquestionable, Mark said the challenge for the quickly growing industry would be one of supply.

He said Grove Heritage Nursery was putting a lot of energy into supplying what the industry needed.

“We are exerting a lot of effort into making as much material available to the industry as possible,” he said.

“We are endeavouring to bulk up our scion wood supplies and are building our capacity to keep up with demand and assist the industry in establishing new plantings.”

“We are also looking into some virus cleanup work on existing varieties to potentially help boost production of these.”

Mark said Tasmania was especially suited to a strong future in the cider industry.

“Tasmania is terrifically well suited to apple and cider production and has a rich history in this industry,” he said.

“Perhaps one day we will again be known as the ‘apple isle’ but for a different reason.”