Fable Farm Fluxion Apple Wine 2021

Fluxion is a traditional method sparkling apple wine made by brothers Jon and Chris Piana at Fable Farm Fermentory in Barnard, Vermont. The 2021 release is the fourth iteration of Fluxion, built from a multi-vintage blend of foraged cider apples aged in an assortment of wood barrels. Vermont maple syrup was added as the priming sugar to trigger a secondary fermentation in bottle, producing a fine, persistent mousse. The finished wine is bone dry with refreshing acidity.

The Fluxion blend is constructed from both one-year and two-year barrel-aged cider lots, blended once a year in the fermentory cave. Each year, a portion of the blend is barreled down and carried forward into the following year's blend, so older vintages accumulate in the wine over time. The fermentation vessels used include neutral oak barrels, stainless steel, and glass. No filtration, pasteurization, or sulfite additions are made at any stage.

The apples come from wild, abandoned, and cultivated trees found across the farm and neighboring fields, forests, and orchards throughout central Vermont. Fable Farm sources exclusively from organically and responsibly farmed ingredients. All fermentation is driven by native wild yeasts and bacteria, and the cider cures in the cave through a succession of microorganisms in both barrel and bottle. Fluxion shares the same base blend as Stillpoint, the farm's still apple wine, differing only in the addition of carbonation via the traditional method.

At around 7% ABV, Fluxion is lightly sparkling and sits closer in style to traditional Asturian or Basque cider than to Champagne, with a mid-level mousse and a profile that leans savory rather than fruity. It is unfiltered and typically shows some sediment from in-bottle fermentation activity, which can be left settled or gently integrated before serving.