• The story of two competent idiots

  • In 2020, while Sebastian was working as a sourdough baker in Aarhus, the idea for Æblefald was born. The concept was simple: to pick apples that would otherwise fall to the ground and rot, and turn them into natural cider. Sebastian posted on social media looking for apples, and it didn’t take long before he gained access to 25 gardens. That summer, Sebastian went to a bar. In his mid-twenties, day drinking was normal. As a sourdough baker, socializing had to happen during the day. There, he met Mikkel. They talked about the usual things: sourdough bread, natural wine, cheese, vegetables (you’d think there’s a limit to loving fennel), local produce, what makes us feel bad about the world we live in, and what makes us feel good. In his search for the good things in life, Mikkel traveled through Germany and France, working with winemakers to deepen his knowledge of viticulture and wine

    (let’s be honest, day drinking played a role here too).

  • He asked the same questions to different winemakers, only to receive different answers. After several intense booze-filled months he concluded that winemaking comes down to personality. No definitive right way, only different methods and approaches. He had to find his own path. So before returning to Denmark, he purchased winemaking equipment. While grapes are rare in Denmark, apples are abundant. As he drove home on the Bundesautobahn 7, the idea hit him: what if he applied winemaking techniques to apples? As summer turned to autumn, Sebastian started picking apples, feeling the pressure to do something great. The apples were too good for mediocrity. He knew he couldn’t do it alone. Mikkel came to mind. One evening in late October, Sebastian messaged him, “What are your plans when you get back?” Mikkel, like many, wanted to make cider. Sebastian quickly replied, “I have 1000 kilos of apples. Want to team up?”

  • Instead of keeping secrets........

  • HARVEST

    We harvest just ripe apples, from private gardens in Aarhus. Some have incredible trees that we systematically isolate. Others have good standard trees, that we combine. The method is shaking. We lay out tarps underneath the trees and shake. The good apples are sorted in small crates, while the bad ones are left for the birds. It is important for us to observe, taste and feel the apples; This is the real and most important foundation for great ciders.

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    CRUSH

    We crush all of our fruit the same day that we harvest it. All the fruit is washed in fresh cold water and transferred to the crusher. and the crushed fruit ends in beautiful gray bins, where we leave the fruit to macerate.

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    MACERATION

    Maceration is the process where the crushed apples ferment with their own juice. This way we draw out a bit of antioxidants, integrate oxygen to the fruit, and pulling out a bit of tannin and bitterness. The skin of an apple is filled with calcium, that reacts with the acidity in the juice and thus lowering the total amount of acidity. Now we do 16 hours of maceration and are crushing finely. We find this combination very intriguing. It yields beautiful complex and clean ciders, that never fail.

  • PRESS

    We prees with a small hydropress in order to extract as much flavour and juice as possible. In 2024 we had a lot of small apples, meaning, that the bitterness was naturally high. We therfore pressed a little lighter (2 bars), to make everything balanced and pleasant. On the other hand, in 2025 the apples where enormous, and we had to force out flavour and bitterness with a 3 bar press.

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    FERMENTATION

    We do spontaneous fermentations, meaning we don´t add yeast, sulfur or any other nasty stuff. The yeast, that turn the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide is from the apple skins, our cidery, the apple, and yeast from the place it is grown. We leave the juice to oxidise for 1 day and after that we will have a strong fast fermentation. We have a warm cidery meaning our ciders tend to have a tight, focused, mineral and lean expression. We like it this way, since they age beautifully and when done right can make you doubt whether or not is wine. We never never do rackings and we don´t block malolactic fermentation. If you want to know why, book a tasting.

  • BARRELS

    We use the best french oak barrels. We work with Tonellerie Ermitage and Seguin Moreau, as we believe they complement each other very well. Segiun Moreau is light toasted giving a more oaked, fresh expression. They are a little thinner and the cider oxidises more in them. Our Ermitage barrels are very thick and tight, and we often get them a little used. They almost allow no oxygen inside meaning we can sometimes have a light reduction yielding notes of popcorn, sesame and a salty finish. Together they give us the perfect balance of: Acidity, fruit, saltiness, bitterness and body.

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    TIRAGE

    We do natural tirage. It is done by mixing the barrel aged ciders from last year with a bit of very strong fermenting juice from the current year. This is tricky and if not done right it will turn your cider into vinegar. We bottle with 15grams of residual sugar giving us a light fresh bubble, just like Champagne Cedric Bouchard. We believe in making a very good apple wine where the bubbles elevate and not mask what is underneath.

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    DEGORGEMENT

    After 6 - 18 months we disgorge our bottles all by hand and a la volee, meaning we don´t freeze the neck. We cork the ciders and let them rest for 3 months before we release them. While they rest we will clean, label and pack them <3

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  • harvest in our best orchard, october 2025

  • (1)laying out tarps (2)shaking trees (3)picking apples (4)apples in crates (5)packing the car