Trabanco is synonymous with natural cider in Asturias. The Trabancos have handcrafted their cider from estate apples for countless generations, and in 1925 Emilio Trabanco decided to turn the local tradition into a renowned family business. Not much has changed at the estate since then. The Trabanco family, helmed by Samuel Trabanco, is still utilizing traditional, artisanal methods (augmented with modern technologies) to produce exceptional, genre-defining Asturian natural ciders. Trabanco currently owns around 100 hectares of apple orchards, allowing them to be innovative and selective in the varieties used in each of their cider cuvées.
Trabanco actively recovers and promotes traditional Asturian apple varieties to ensure that traditional varieties do not become extinct, keeping the flavor profile of Asturian cider authentic and distinct. Fermentations occur exclusively with native yeasts in their century-old, 20,000L chestnut barrels that possess unique microclimates and yeast colonies, which in turn add complexity, texture, and depth to the resulting ciders. Trabanco is one of the last cider houses to ferment and age exclusively in traditional wood barrels.
Trabanco Alicia is the first Sidra de Autor, or “author’s cider” from the Trabanco cidery, the result of a lifetime’s work for Samuel Trabanco, as well as their new flagship cuvée. Alicia is a single-varietal cider made from the historic Martina apple, a nearly forgotten delicious red Asturian varietal. They carefully select the best of the Martina varietal from their estate in Lavandera, fermenting the crushed apples on their skins in their 20,000L chestnut barrels to create this fresh, complex cider, still containing a small amount of residual carbon dioxide. Their orchards in the Lavandera valley and neighboring villages are planted on steep hillsides with limestone-rich soils, giving their fruit a very distinctive terroir.
The Trabanco family has always been invested in the cider-making lifestyle. All the family members have been involved in the production process throughout their lives, with each new generation growing up among the orchards. To be Asturian is to have apple cider running through one’s veins.
This cuvée is named for Samuel’s mother, Alicia, who used to guide him and his brothers in carefully picking their apple orchards, surrounded by the dense and wild forests of Lavandera, just 10km from the Cantabrian Sea. Alicia is a look back at these memories and an entire lifetime of experience: at an autumn harvest, at a mother and her family, and at this heritage as seen through the eyes of a child. Alicia is a very personal cider for Samuel, meant to be enjoyed at the table, with food, in a similar fashion to white wine.
Site: Lavandera
Soil: Steep limestone slopes
Varietal: Martina, a red apple indigenous to Asturias
Style: Still single varietal Sidra de Autor, or “author’s cider”
Vinification: Slow fermentation with indigenous yeasts in over 100-year-old old chestnut barrels
Secondary Fermentation: None
Farming: Practicing Organic
Tasting Notes: Bone dry, still, crisp, complex
Vegan: Yes
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