THE WORLD’S LARGEST Cider Cellar

You’d be excused for thinking that the world’s largest cider cellar is in France, but it’s right here on Gippsland’s apple-loving soil.

You can now tour the cellar at Gurneys Cider, the small-batch artisan cider producers in Foster. Learn about the ‘orchard to glass’ process with an introduction in the production facility, and an intimate tasting of their most exclusive ciders, including the newly released seven-year-old apple brandy.

Journey inside a constructed hill to the atmospheric cellar, known as The Arches. The cavernous space is lined with rows of enormous French oak barrels, glowing under soft lighting, while Tibetan chants play on loop in a bid to make ‘happy yeast’. Can harmonic music really aid fermentation? We can’t say for sure, but we can say that Gurneys took out top honours in the 2021 Australia’s Best Cider Selection of the Year Awards.

In a tale of transitioning industries for the Gippsland region, The Arches has been constructed using 350-tonne concrete panels repurposed from the Hazelwood

Power Station, which were destined for demolition following the closure of the power station.

The Arches is one part of a far broader approach to sustainability for Gurneys Cider, who aim to be completely carbon neutral by 2025. In addition to their solar power system, the construction of the cellar has reduced the heating and cooling needs for fermentation and storage.

Over 7,000 fruit trees and thousands of native trees and shrubs have been planted on the farm, which provides the bulk of their cider apples. Appearance is not important for cider apples, so there’s no need for pesticides and much waste is composted. And in a gloriously satisfying example of Gurneys’ circular economy, leftover apple pomace is used by the local free-range pork farmers who provide smallgoods for Gurneys delicious local produce platters.

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