491: Revisiting Randall Grahm | Cider Exploration Without Hesitation

An early conversation that explored possibilities cider was only beginning to consider.

As Cider Chat moves toward its 500th episode, we revisit conversations from the earliest seasons, taking a long view of the moments that quietly shaped where cider and this podcast would go.

This episode, originally recorded in Season One, features legendary winemaker Randall Grahm, founder of Bonny Doon Vineyard and a James Beard Award winner. At the time, inviting a winemaker onto a cider podcast felt like stepping outside the expected boundaries of the category. Looking back now, it marked a turning point.

Long before many of these topics became common discussion in cider, this conversation explores:

indigenous and wild yeast fermentation
the use of pied de cuve to build healthy native fermentations
beginning fermentations de novo each vintage
blending philosophy borrowed from wine
quince used as structure and aroma rather than juice
perry through a winemaker's lens
antique fruits like medlars
cider as an expression of curiosity and place

Randall Grahm

Find the full show notes for this episode at CiderChat.com
Episode 491: https://ciderchat.com/podcast/491-randall-grahm-cider-history/

Listen to Episode 491 of Cider Chat® wherever you get your podcasts and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss what's coming next in Ciderville.

Prefer to watch?
Find Cider Chat on YouTube for more cider stories, orchard adventures, and global cider culture.

💛 If you love what you're hearing, please consider supporting Cider Chat.
Your support helps keep the podcast on the air and makes it possible to share more conversations like this one.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(519)

516: Tasting Time | Totally Cider Tour '26 - France

What does time taste like? Join Cider Chat MC Ria on the 2026 Totally Cider Tour through Normandy, Domfrontais and Brittany, where cider, poiré, Pommeau and Calvados become a way of experiencing place...

7 Okt 56min

515: World of Cider: The Baltic Region

What happens when a cider region has the apples, but not centuries of rules telling cidermakers what cider is supposed to be? Recorded at CiderCon 2026 in Providence, Rhode Island, this World of Cider...

23 Sep 51min

514: Doing More With Lees | Ryan Monkman

Lees are more than sediment at the bottom of a tank. Recorded at CiderCon 2026 in Providence, Rhode Island, cidermaker and fermentation consultant Ryan Monkman explores how cidermakers can put lees to...

9 Sep 53min

513: Still Cider, Single Apples and Time | Sowams, Rhode Island

What happens when a cidermaker decides to do less and give cider more time? Spencer Morris of Sowams Cider Works in Warren, Rhode Island, makes cider with more than 70 apple varieties, old mechanical ...

26 Aug 1h 6min

512: Plant the Damn Apple Tree | Special Edition

Cider Chat MC Ria Windcaller reads her August eCiderNews editorial, Plant the Damn Apple Tree, reflecting on entrepreneurship, uncertainty, abundance, and what an apple tree might teach us about the t...

24 Aug 10min

511: Hungarian Cider Comes of Age | Bright Cider

Hungary may not have a centuries-old cider tradition like England or France, but that is exactly what makes its modern cider movement so exciting. In this episode, Cider MC Ria Windcaller travels to B...

12 Aug 54min

510: From Barrels to the Pub | The People's Cider Co., Michigan

Most cider makers dream of expanding their barrel program. Jason Lummen did the opposite. In Episode 510, Ria Windcaller visits The People's Cider Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Jason explai...

29 Jul 59min

509: Mr. Plūme | In the Heart of Latvia's Fine Cider

Episode 509 takes us to the heart of Latvia to meet Dace and Māris Plūme, the husband-and-wife team behind Mr. Plūme, an award-winning orchard cidery known for both still and naturally sparkling cider...

15 Jul 1h 3min