Posma cider, made in El Sauzal with pippin apple since 2011, has once again triumphed in Asturias, the cradle of this drink in Spain, and it has done so in a prestigious contest that brought together 230 ciders from 23 countries such as the United States, Mexico, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, Italy, Portugal, Finland or Spain, among others. Posma received this weekend the gold medal for the best brut sparkling cider in the XI International Gala Cider Show, In Gijón, and in the category of natural cider in small format, it also obtained the silver medal for “the best sweet drink.”
These are two new awards that confirm the quality of sauzalera cider, a project that began in 2005, but which until 2011 did not become the commercial brand of the first cider made in Canary Islands, with 100% Tenerife raw materials. In previous editions of this same International Gala Cider Show, Posma has received four other important awards in Asturias: the first prize for the best brut cider, in 2014 and in 2019; the third prize for the best brut cider, in 2016, and the first prize for the best sweet cider with exogenous carbon dioxide, in 2020. In 2021 the gold medal was once again hung as «The best sparkling cider brut», and another silver medal for its small format version. Five international awards in just ten years of experience.
A total of 73 cider producers competed, with 230 varieties, to obtain the maximum recognition in 16 categories. The international jury for this edition included Manuel G. Busto, as president; the cider expert Joaquín Fernández; the professor of the CIFP of Hospitality and Tourism of Asturias Juan Luis García; the member of the Sierense de la Manzana Club Marta Roldán; the Portuguese importer Jaime Felipe Barros, and representatives of national and international wineries such as Abraham Goldman-Armstrong, from Norway; Benito Peciña, from the Basque Country; Luis Raviña, from Tenerife; Christian Stolte, from Scotland; Andrea Bonfatti, from Italy; Liliana Nóbrega, from Portugal; Marc Lhommeau, from France; René Galindo, from Chile; Joseph Barfield, from Portugal, and Daniele Porporato, from Italy.
Posma is a product of the Association of Reineta Apple Producers of Tenerife and it became, more than a decade ago, a pioneering experience in the Archipelago. This drink is made from pippin apple, a fruit with an intense bittersweet flavor of which El Sauzal is the main producer on the Island, with more than 27 hectares dedicated to this revitalized crop thanks to local cider.
Its producers emphasize that this 100% Tenerife cider is made with apples from areas “where mist and horizontal rain play a key role. This posma, the droplets of water that irrigate and moisten the fields in a subtle way, is what gives its name to one of the best ciders in Spain, which is made using the champagnise method, carrying out the second fermentation in the bottle, of the same way as a cava or champagne ».
Posma can boast of being the best brut sparkling cider of 2021, which according to its tasting note «It is characterized, in visual phase, by its straw yellow color and by a fine and persistent bubble that in its ascent through the glass forms regular rosaries and on the surface light lace and crown. In the olfactory phase, it is reminiscent of ripe apple, and on the palate, it is balanced, broad and with good persistence, recalling the aromas of a delicate pippin apple in the retronasal way ».
