Asturias, Spain
Discovering Cider Traditions in Asturias, Spain
Recently, Gregory+Vine Director Natasja found herself with the unexpected opportunity to explore Asturias, Spain and the coastal city of Gijon. While visiting, Natasja was struck by the incredible cider culture of the region.
The provinces of Asturias, Galicia, Cantabria, and Basque Country sit on the northwest coast of Spain - nicknamed “Green Spain” - and are marked by lush landscapes that cascade into the Cantabric Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Asturias is just east of Galicia and has a similar climate, but much more of a mountainous geography.
Where Asturians set themselves apart is through their love for cider, which is the drink of choice and goes hand-in-hand with the region’s social and culinary traditions. There are three types of cider produced in Asturias: “sidra natural” (traditional), filtered, and sparkling. The most popular - sidra natural - is dry, has crisp acidity and usually around 6% alcohol. It is bottled unfiltered, and must be aerated as it is served to coax out all of its expressiveness - a process called “escanciado.”
You would never grasp the proper cider-pouring technique from just a photo. Below is a video that shows just how it’s done at Sidreria El Furacu in Villaviciosa.
Your aim better be good as this is when the (messy!) fun begins. A thin rivulet of cider is poured from high overhead and caught in an angled glass below. The designated drinker is meant to quickly down the frothy sip, dumping any remaining drops and sediment into buckets on the floor.
Taverns and restaurants in Asturias are set up for this cider-pouring ritual, making for a very interactive, social experience. Alternatively, some fine restaurants in Asturias offer tableside cider dispensers that aerate and dispense cider at the touch of a button, like the one at MamáGuaja restaurant in Gijón, Spain.
Today, most cider is produced with the Denominacion de Origen Protegida Sidra de Asturias seal, which denotes quality, character, and inclusion of 76 approved apple varieties. According to Turismo Asturias, over 40 million bottles of cider are produced annually, most of which is consumed within Spain. When traveling to Asturian cities such as Gijón, Villaviciosa, Nava and Siero, cider is omnipresent: you can find it in restaurants, cider taverns (“sidrerias”), and cider mills (“lagares”), where typical gastronomic parties known as espichas are commonly held.
If you are curious about Asturian cider, visit sidradeesturias.es to learn more.
Natasja is a Director at Gregory+Vine and splits her time between Madrid, New York, and Kansas City. A judge for the European Tasters Guild, Natasja is fluent in Spanish, French, and Italian and heads up agency mentorship and key accounts in Europe and South America.