Gold Country: Eve had it Right: Indigeny Reserve in Sonora

Oh, the perfume of ripening apples! In an Orion magazine article*, writer Gary Paul Naban describes a trip to the Eden-like birthplace of Malus sieversii in Kazakhstan, where researchers catalogued more than fifty-six wild forms of apples. Fortunately, fifty-one varieties of these fragrant beauties can be found in Sonora, California, considerably closer to home, and in forms just about anyone can appreciate year-round: hard cider, brandy and vodka.

The bottling plant (photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

The Watson family purchased the original 80-acre orchard in 2005 to keep the land from development, and expanded since then to 160 acres. Some of the trees date back to the early 1900s; it's the oldest stand of apple trees in Tuolumne County. After going through a three-year process for organic certification, they determined that nearly half the apples were not suitable for eating--hence the hard cider and other products (though there are plenty of sweet and juicy Honeycrisps during harvest time in early autumn).

The orchards, renamed the Indigeny Reserve in 2007, now offer a beautiful park-like setting for picnickers and a tasting room that’s open every day after 10AM. The reserve couldn’t be more attractive, from the entry road winding through a shady forest under a covered bridge to the tasting rooms, and a cidery and distilling plant built from locally harvested and re-purposed oak and cedar.

Speaking of distilleries, that isn't a giant flute on the left--it's the distilling unit, chugging away.

The grounds are gorgeous even in the rain

The view from the bridge

I can’t fail to mention the “extra-crisp” cider, which is my new favorite thing—made from Granny Smith apples, fermented with champagne yeast and served in aluminum bottles, this stuff is killer! There’s also a blackberry-flavored extra-crisp, and a cider made from all varieties of apples in the orchards. And brandy. And vodka. And a two-and-a-half-mile hiking trail to work it off. Even Adam couldn’t ask for anything more.

Lifting a cool one...(Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

(Photo: Bonnie Kamin Morrissey)

Indigeny Reserve, 14679 Summers Lane, Sonora, CA

https://indigenyreserve.com/

Indigeny Reserve on Google Maps

*https://orionmagazine.org/article/the-fatherland-of-apples/

 All photos by Joanne Orion Miller unless otherwise noted. www.joanneorionmiller.com

IT'S WATER DAY!

It’s water day! Water from the nearby stream is released into each farm’s asequia (a narrow concrete channel) for a short period during the week, and we took advantage of it. Nick and I played campesinos, digging trenches and watering the olive trees, orange trees and greenery on the property; our work included one clever hose trick that fed a line into the stream and pumped out enough water for some desperately dry plantings. Meanwhile, Ron read Rilke on the patio.

Tonight, dinner was on us—Ron made a killer guacamole, and I prepped a salad, couscous (for which I’ve developed an undying affection) and fish we bought in Salobrena (frozen, from Alaska—no fresh fish to be found in the store). Alas, the only knives available couldn’t have cut butter, but we muddled through. I hoped we had enough as everything was closed on Sunday. Brenda—a full-of-life earth mother--arrived first, and we enjoyed drinks and the Alpujarra sport of swatting the bugs that had come to dine on us—it turned into a great party; Rita and Nikki, Helinick and Andy, and us. We wanted to invite everyone, but space was a problem. One highlight of the evening: Helinick instructed us on the workings of the incredibly complicated washing machine, and I fell in love, sort of—he took second helpings, which I always find thrilling.

Tile in Baraka Cafe, Orgiva

We really know how to have fun in the Alpujarra.

Check out the video: https://vimeo.com/70760985