02nd June, 2026
A naturally fermented sparkling cider made by Wyldlands Cider in the small village of Monkton Wylde in West Dorset has been crowned as the Supreme Champion British Cider in the British Cider Championships at the Royal Bath and West Show in Shepton Mallet today (Friday May 29).
Jules and Anson Hartland and their friend Henry Bailey have been making cider since taking over their smallholding and orchard eight years ago, using a 200 year old twin screw press. The apples, which are a mix of traditional West Country dessert and cider varieties, including Kingston Blacks, Harry Masters Jersey and Dabinett, come from their own 50 tree cider orchard and another traditional orchard near Lyme Regis.
They specialise in naturally fermented sparkling ciders, such as the medium which triumphed at the show.
After receiving the Rupert Best Trophy for the Champion British Cider from the Master of the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers, Chris Newenham, a delighted Jules Hartland called it the best moment of their cider-making years.
“It is just wonderful recognition of all the hard work which we have put in to our mission of making really good cider. The winning cider is naturally sparkling, full-bodied and oaky with a really great sweetness which has all come from the apples”.
The Reserve Champion British Cider was another sparkling cider, this time a sweet one, from Rawlins Family Cider of Ilminster in Somerset, made using the technique called keeving, in which fermentation is checked before it is complete, to produce a naturally sweet, sparkling cider.
“I discovered keeving soon after we started making cider commercially in 2018, and when we found that the cider it produced was really good, I’ve been specialising in that ever since, trying to produce better cider year by year” said Simon Rawlins, who also claimed the trophy for the Best British Fruit Cider, for a keeved cider flavoured with his own grape juice.
“We don’t have our own orchards so collect apples from orchards in the area that would otherwise go to waste, mostly traditional cider varieties, and we’re also quite cramped for space, which means I’ve been concentrating on quality rather than quantity, which is clearly paying off.”
The Pewterers Trophy for the Champion British Farmhouse Cider was won by a medium cider produced by Seven Trees Cider of Tilehurst near Reading in Berkshire.
Andy Williams of Seven Trees Cider said he was surprised and delighted with the accolade.
“I’m just a small cider-maker in Reading with West Country roots, and I’m absolutely over the moon. It’s a medium cider which I knew was pretty good, without realising it was quite THAT good.”
The apples from which the winning cider was made came from Northdown Orchard near Crewkerne in Somerset, the home of Ross Mangles, Chief Steward of Orchards and Cider at the Royal Bath and West Show, which hosts the British Cider Championships, and it was Ross who received the trophy from the Master of the Worshipful Company of Pewterers, Charles Robinson.
The other trophy winners in the British Cider Championships of 2026 are as follows:
The Westons Trophy for the Best Fruit Cider: Rawlins Family Cider, Ilminster
The Arthur Davies Trophy for the Best Single Variety Bottled Cider: Padgett Cider’s Kingston Black.
The Vigo Trophy for the Champion Apple Juice: Glastonbury Abbey
British Champion Perry Trophy: Harry’s Cider, Long Sutton, with their Fine Bottle Fermented Perry.
Newcomers: Win’s Cider of Langport with their Original Medium
