Melino Apple Cider with Raspberry

Melino Rosé Apple Cider with Raspberry and Ginger

Melino is an apple cider from South Tyrol that gets its color from raspberry and its edge from ginger. It is not a sugary fruit mix, but an aperitivo with 3% ABV where the apple remains the foundation and the berry sets the tone.

Melino Apple Cider with Raspberry is the glowing rosé apple secco from Hofkellerei Maffei in Kurtinig in South Tyrol's lowlands, available in a 750 ml bottle and a six-bottle case. Giorgio Maffei himself calls it "Life is better in Pink." Anyone who holds the bottle up to the light will immediately understand why this phrase ended up on the label.

Rosé in the glass, raspberry in the nose

The color doesn't come from a paint pot, but from real raspberries. They make up nearly a fifth of the content, coloring the cider from pink to antique rose.

In the scent, the berry is at the forefront, with the apple underneath as a broad, calm base. The perlage is finer than the color suggests and lasts a long time in the glass. The ginger only appears at the end, not as a sharp heat, but as a small counterpoint to the fruit's sweetness. At 3% ABV, Melino is the lighter of the two Maffei ciders and is accordingly lively to drink without becoming insignificant.

Fruity, sparkling, with a kick of ginger in the background – this is a drink that doesn't overpower a summer evening, but accompanies it. It is clearest at six to eight degrees Celsius, whereas at room temperature it quickly feels flat and uninspired.

An aperitivo for long hours on the terrace

Well-chilled, Melino belongs at the start of the evening, when no one knows how long it will last and the first snacks are placed on the table.

It pairs beautifully with goat cheese, roasted apricots, or a bowl of olives. With ice and a sprig of mint, it becomes a spritz that needs no further alcohol. It has almost established itself on its own as a Mother's Day gift for us – the color does all the convincing. For those who prefer it clearer and drier, reach for the Iduna Apple Cider, the sibling without the berry.

How the raspberry gets into the apple

Everything begins on three hectares of apple meadows around the farm, where fourth-generation farmer Giorgio Maffei grows six apple varieties and carefully picks them by hand starting in mid-August.

The juice goes into pressurized tanks, where it ferments with yeast at low temperatures. Because the carbon dioxide remains in the drink during this process, Melino sparkles without anyone needing to add it. Only afterwards are the raspberry and ginger added, in quantities that you can clearly taste without the apple disappearing beneath them. Added sugar and externally injected carbon dioxide are deliberately avoided here as well.

Giorgio is both a fruit grower and an oenologist, which is no disadvantage for a drink positioned between the orchard and the cellar. When he began making cider in South Tyrol in 2010, there was neither a model nor a market for it, and today his business bears the South Tyrol quality seal. Melino stands alongside more serious bottles in our cider selection without needing to hide, and whatever else is produced at the winery is also worth a look. After all, pink can also be artisanal.