Our orchard is planted on a peaceful hilltop as part of a harmonious ecosystem that relies on diversity and fertility as its foundation. South Hill Cider produces ciders with individuality, quality, and elegance reflecting the terroir of our beautiful Finger Lakes region.
Steve Selin, the cidermaker, apple picker, and community orchardist has been bottling his own cider since 2004. Collaborating with neighbors to help maintain and reclaim wild trees and forgotten orchards for use in cider making has been a labor of love for years ~ see the Fingerlakes Apple Tree Project. The apples from these trees, plus bittersweet and heirloom apples from other small orchards, enable us to give every bottle of cider the solid foundation needed for world-class ciders.
Living just four miles south of the Ithaca Commons, Steve and his family have been collaborating with an adjoining landowner to allow Steve to plow these fallow fields and to plant an orchard of cider apples. This land, being so close to Downtown Ithaca, is under intense development pressure. In 2014 Steve helped the landowner to protect his land with a Conservation Easement, which will protect the land from subdivision and development in perpetuity. The land adjoins 182 acres of Finger Lakes Land Trust and Cornell Preserves and is located on the Finger Lakes Trail.