From branch to bottle, meet the Ripon family behind Far West Cider Co.’s hard ciders
Ask members of the Chinchiolo family when an apple tastes best and they’ll say right off the tree. The same goes for producing hard cider. “We say it is from branch to bottle,” says produce farmer Steve Chinchiolo, owner and operator of Lucky You Orchards.
Located on the outskirts of Ripon, Lucky You Orchards is a pick-your-own farm offering organic apple varieties including Fuji, Pink Lady, Gala, and GoldRush. The apples are also essential to their other endeavor, Far West Cider Co.
Using fruit directly from their orchard, the Chinchiolos produce a craft cider with unique blends matched to their apple varieties. Established in 2018, Far West Cider is managed by the fourth generation of the Chinchiolo family: son Adam and daughter Andrea. Steve and his son Alex manage the farm.
“It was my brother Adam’s idea to start making ciders,” says Andrea Chinchiolo., “He noticed that the cider industry was starting to take off, and what we have here is a lot of natural ingredients, so he started making cider in his garage in San Francisco.” Today, Far West Cider Co. is produced by a cidery in the Bay Area city of Richmond.
Hard cider is the result of the fermentation of pressed apples or mash. It is different from beer, which uses grains and is brewed.
Cider is never brewed, but does use yeast. “We use champagne yeast,” says Andrea. “It’s very much like wine and cold fermentation. We steal a bit from the beer world by using carb stones to force carbonate.” The fermentation takes about three weeks. She adds that the best time to press apples is right off the tree.
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Far West Cider Co. uses other ingredients grown and produced on the Chinchiolos’ farms, like a co-fermentation with Bing cherries for their Rozè and honey for their Honey Lime Sun Crush varieties.
“Our most popular offering is You Guava Be Kidding Me,” says Andrea.
Steve agrees and adds, “It is tropical, but not sweet.”
For apple purists, Andrea suggests a can of Nu Dry or Very Juicy, which offer apple flavors at their peak, just the right amount of sweetness and a crisp finish.
For fall pie lovers, there’s Pie Crimes. It is described as an “unfiltered California Fall cider melded with a 12+ hour apple juice reduction, gigantic quantities of Indonesian cinnamon, a bunch of Jamaican allspice and just the right touch of nutmeg.”
To launch the brand, the family used a U.S. Department of Agriculture program called VAPG, or value-added producer grant, which “assists agricultural producers enter value-added activities to generate new products, create and expand marketing opportunities, and increase producer income,” according to the USDA website. Andrea says they were able to use fruit that may not look perfect for grocery stores but is full of flavor and ideal for a secondary product.
“I think what makes our product unique apart from the flavors is that we know what’s in it,” she says. “A lot of brands buy a tanker of juice from whatever apples are available during that time, and it’s normally a hodgepodge. But we grow specific varieties that have a little more tannin that add more character to the final cider.” She adds that better ingredients result in a better product and that they manage the process from crop to can.
Cider fans can find Far West Cider Co. at Whole Foods and other Bay Area specialty spirit stores and locally at Orlando’s Market in Escalon and Terraza Market and Grappa Market in Ripon.
But Andrea recommends coming to Lucky You Orchards for a day of fizz and fun. “We call it a sip-and-pick around here,” she says, “People can come and grab a glass of cider and then go pick the apples that made the whole thing. We have freshly pressed apple cider and other juices for the kids, too.”
While they cannot sell hard cider products on site to take home, visitors can belly up to the bar, which is actually a truck. A shiny, baby-blue vintage truck from Tap Travelers, outfitted with taps to sample Far West Cider Co’s latest offerings.
Guests can ride into the orchards on Old Blue, a bright blue tractor, and Andrea says the orchards are ideal for photos and picnics. She frequently finds visitors spending hours strolling among the trees and basking in the sun while eating just-picked apples. A Bee story from 2022 highlighted the many activities offered at the orchard.
Lucky You Orchards is at 21611 Carrolton Road in Ripon and is open on weekends from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The season is open until Nov. 24, just enough time to pick your apples for holiday pies. Admission and parking are free, and apples are sold at $2.99 per pound.
