Cider makers hail 'vintage year' after hot weather

Oxford Farmhouse is making cider and juice from waste apples

Cider makers say they have had a "vintage year" after they have seen a "bumper crop" of more flavourful apples caused by the recent heatwaves.

Joe Hartle from the Purbeck Cider Company in Dorset is one of the manufacturers to benefit from the abundance of fruit.

He said they have been harvesting two weeks earlier than last year, which he described as "pretty exceptional".

Cider makers have attributed the large numbers to this year's hot weather, with the met office calling summer 2025 the hottest on record for the UK.

Tim Wale runs Tutts Clump Cider in West Berkshire and said the trees are "laden" this year.

"The reason there's more this year is because it's been so hot and dry that the trees think they're dying so they overproduce to produce more seeds, so that's why we've got a glut of apples," he said.

He added that they would not normally start pressing apples yet but they have processed "six tonnes already".

Waste apples

Andrew Myatt from Oxford Farmhouse is using his company to try and tackle the waste apples left behind on busy years like this.

"90% of apples grown in gardens goes to waste, which is a criminal waste, especially when there's such food poverty," he said.

His company uses the waste fruit from people's gardens and returns it back to them as cider or apple juice.

A humble project which Mr Myatt started from his garage in 2018 has now grown to a business which he anticipates will process 25 tonnes of apples this year.

He said they have had to upgrade to a larger "belt press" this year in order to cope with the volume of apples.