Kapnick Orchards wins Michigan cider contest

Kapnick Orchards won the 21^st annual Michigan Apple Cider Contest at the Great Lakes Fruit Vegetable & Farm Market EXPO in Grand Rapids Dec. 8.

Cidermaker Scott Robertello owns Kapnick Orchards in Britton with Bruce and Sharon Shaffer. Robertello has been making cider for 36 years; the orchards were established by Sharon’s parents, Janice and Charles Kapnick, in the 1930s.

Robertello wasn’t present to receive the award Dec. 8 at a formal banquet — he was driving home and received the news by text message.

“I was really and totally in shock,” he said.

This year’s win is the first time Kapnick has had a top-three finish in the Michigan Cider contest – the best it previously had fared was an honorable mention (fifth place) in 2012.

Bob Tritten, district fruit educator with Michigan State University Extension began the Michigan Apple Cider contest in 1996 to improve cider making, promote the industry and educate the public. The sweet cider contest is sponsored by the Michigan State Horticultural Society, the Michigan Apple Committee and Fruit Growers News.

Robertello said winning cider wasn’t much different from previous year’s entries. Generally, he said, they blend juice from five or six varieties of apples, combining sweet and tart apples with more mild varieties.

“I think that helps give it body,” he said.

Robertello said it was a good year for apples, and the orchard’s cider is usually at its very best flavor at this time of the year, because they are using fully-ripened apples that were just harvested. Kapnick Orchards keeps its’ farmer’s market open year-round, and produces cider from the second week of September through May.

The runners-up are as follows:

2^nd place: Bill Schultz of Shultz Fruitridge Farms in Mattawan

3^rd place: Mike Koan of Koan’s Orchard in Flushing

Honorable Mentions: (fourth place) Will Cartwright, Allan, Wanda and Shannon Spicer of Spicer Orchard in Fenton; (fifth place) Skip Sietsema of Sietsema Orchards in Ada.

Twenty-nine cider makers participated in the contest. A panel of nine judges scored the ciders for appearance and color, aroma and bouquet, acidity and sweetness, sugar/acid balance, body, flavor, finish and overall quality. The judges conducted a blind taste test of the ciders in the first two rounds of the contest, and in a third round ranked them from best to least-favorite.

Kapnick Orchards will have its name added to the traveling trophy and will get to keep it until next year’s competition.

At the Dec. 8 banquet, Tritten recognized Harold Thome of Comstock Park, who had served as a judge for the first 20 years of the contest, but this year retired from the responsibility.

“We missed you today Harold,” Tritten said. “Thank you for your great service.”

— Stephen Kloosterman, Assistant Editor

Tritten provided a complete list of the contest winners since 1997:

Year	Winner	Second Place	Third Place	# of entries
1997	Alvin Hill	John and Mike Beck	Richard Friske	39
	Hill Brothers Orchard	Uncle John’s Cider Mill	Friske Orchards
	Grand Rapids, MI	St. Johns, MI	Charlevoix, MI
1998	Alvin Hill	Mike Koan	Dan Beck	25
	Hill Brothers Orchard	Koan’s Orchard	Beck’s Cider Mill
	Grand Rapids, MI	Flushing, MI	St. Johns, MI
1999	Bill Erwin/Bill Emery	John and Mike Beck	Rob and Cheryl Nelson	19
	Erwin Orchards & Cider Mill	Uncle John’s Cider Mill	Parmenter’s Cider Mill
	South Lyon, MI	St. Johns, MI	Northville, MI
2000	Bill Erwin/Bill Emery	Lucie and Chuck Hiner	Ray and Linda Little	21
	Erwin Orchards & Cider Mill	Past Tense Cider Mill	Little Orchard Company
	South Lyon, MI	Lapeer, MI	Bay City, MI
2001	Bill Erwin/Bill Emery	James Goldstein	John and Mike Beck	28
	Erwin Orchards & Cider Mill	Hy’s Cider Mill	Uncle John’s Cider Mill
	South Lyon, MI	Romeo, MI	St. Johns, MI
2002	Bill Erwin/Bill Emery	Jim Hill	Mike and Therese Bossory	29
	Erwin Orchards & Cider Mill	Hill Brother’s Orchard & Cider Mill	Alber Orchard & Cider Mill
	South Lyon, MI	Grand Rapids, MI	Manchester, MI
2003	Mike Koan	Rob Long	Mike and Therese Bossory	32
	Koan Orchards	Long’s Family Orchard & Farm	Alber Orchard & Cider Mill
	Flushing, MI 48433	Commerce, MI	Manchester, MI
2004	John and Mike Beck	Jim Hill	William Verellen	29
	Uncle John’s Cider Mill	Hill Brother’s Orchard & Cider Mill	Verellen Orchard
	St. Johns, MI	Grand Rapids, MI	Romeo, MI
2005	Jim Engelsma II	William Schultz	Jim Goldstein	34
	Engelsma’s Apple Barn	Schultz’s Fruit Ridge Farms	Hy’s Cider Mill
	Walker, MI	Mattawan, MI	Romeo, MI
2006	Jim Hill	Jim Engelsma II	Jim Goldstein	33
	Hill Bros. Orchards	Engelsma’s Apple Barn	Hy’s Cider Mill
	Grand Rapids, MI	Walker, MI	Romeo, MI
2007	Jim Engelsma II	Jim Hill	Bill Erwin/Bill Emery	34
	Engelsma’s Apple Barn	Hill Bros. Orchards	Erwin Orchards & Cider Mill
	Walker, MI	Grand Rapids, MI	South Lyon, MI
2008	Jim Hill	Ray Porter	Mike Beck	30
	Hill Bros. Orchards	Porter Orchards	Uncle John’s Cider Mill
	Grand Rapids, MI	Goodrich, MI	St. Johns, MI
2009	Jim Hill	Bill Erwin/Bill Emery	Tom Rosenfeld	34
	Hill Bros. Orchards	Erwin Orchards & Cider Mill	Earth First Farms
	Grand Rapids, MI	South Lyon, MI	Berrien Center, MI
2010	Jim & Becky Engelsma	Abbey & Bill Jacobson	William Erwin/William Emery	40
	Engelsma’s Apple Barn	Westview Orchards	Erwin Orchards & Cider Mill
	Walker, MI	Romeo, MI	South Lyon, MI
2011	Skip Sietsema	Jim Hill	Jim & Becky Engelsma	31
	Sietsema Orchard & Cider Mill, Ada, MI	Hill Bros. Orchards	Engelsma’s Apple Barn
		Grand Rapids, MI	Walker, MI
2012	Jim & Becky Engelsma	Mary Emmett	Jim & Michelle Goldstein	23
	Engelsma’s Apple Barn	Plymouth Orchards & Cider Mill	Hy’s Cider Mill
	Grand Rapids, MI	Plymouth, MI	Romeo, MI
2103	Mary Emmett	Jim Hill	Jim & Becky Engelsma	34
	Plymouth Orchards & Cider Mill	Hill Bros. Orchards	Engelsma’s Apple Barn
	Plymouth, MI	Grand Rapids, MI	Grand Rapids, MI
2014	Jim & Becky Engelsma	Pete and Paul Blake	Stephen Klein	30
	Engelsma’s Apple Barn	Blakes Orchard & Cider Mill	Klein Cider Mill
	Grand Rapids, MI	Armada, MI	Sparta, MI
2015	Jim & Becky Engelsma	Mike & Dede Beck	Kenny Miller	38
	Engelsma’s Apple Barn	Uncle Johns Cider Mill	Miller’s Big Red Apple Orchard
	Grand Rapids, MI	St Johns, MI	Romeo, MI
2016	Kenny Miller	Chris and Corey Buerge	Alan and Wanda Spicer	34
	Miller’s Big Red Apple Orchard	Apple Barrel Cider Mill	Spicer Orchards
	Romeo, MI	Ithaca, MI	Fenton, MI
2017	Scott Robertello and Bruce Shaffer	Bill and Denise Schultz	Mike Koan	29
	Kapnick Orchards	Schultz Fruitridge Farms	Koan’s Orchard
	Britton, MI	Mattawan, MI	Flushing, MI