For years, I had heard good things about Vermont’s Shacksbury Cider, and envied its annual Harvest Camp via social media. But I had never managed to try any of its ciders until the day that Shacksbury was pouring at a Pittsburgh beer festival I was attending. I was lucky enough to try the limited-release 2015 Lost and Found: I knew that I would most likely never get to drink that vintage again.
In the middle of the craft beer boom, my brother was diagnosed with Celiac disease. Since then, he’s mainly stuck to wine, but is always looking for other gluten-free drinks to try. At my recommendation, he found Shacksbury at his local South Carolina bottle shop and immediately fell in love. Now, he's even a member of the Shacksbury Cider Club, and sends me countless messages about the unique releases that are sent to him every season.
Recently, my family had a get-together after over a year apart. After hanging out with our parents for a bit, my brother and I walked out to the far end of the yard. I carried two glasses that I had snagged from their bar and he toted a very special bottle that he had brought all the way from South Carolina and couldn't wait to share: It was a bottle of the fabled Shacksbury Lost and Found, he told me. And it wasn't just any Lost and Found: It was the 2015 vintage.
I couldn't believe I was about to be reunited with this cider in, of all places, the backyard of my childhood home. My brother set the bottle on the fence of our father's garden and cracked it open. With a clink of our glasses, we said cheers, took a sip, and then quickly polished off the rest. I thought to myself, "Until next time, 2015 Lost and Found. If there is a next time." But hey—I've thought that before.
Words + Photoby Nick Naretto