Our Mission
Preserving the legacy of the American West, by upcycling wild and historic apples into distinct handcrafted cider.
Our Story
Rooted along the upper tributaries of the Colorado River, Fenceline Cider was founded with a curiosity and admiration for wild and historic apples. Reviving the region’s cider traditions, Fenceline is crafted with cold, slow fermentation — producing a drier libation, with complex flavors, and less sugar. Surrounded by thousands of abandoned orchards that continue to grow in Montezuma County’s rich soil and arid climate, we are committed to upcycling the region’s heritage apples and wild, one-of-a-kind varietals into extraordinary craft cider.
The Fence Line
Our name, Fenceline, pays homage to the thousands of wild apple trees that grow along the fence lines of rural America, by way of the birds that once dropped seeds there. Often, a bird will go out into an orchard, eat an apple, then fly over and sit on a fence wire, dropping an apple seed. Because of the way that apples propagate — each seed deviating genetically from their parent tree — if it sprouts, the dropped seedling will grow into a new type of apple tree. These wild apples tend to have less sugar and be more tart — ideal for making quality cider.
Wild Apples
We love the apple’s ability to defy man’s regulations of grafting and orderly orchards and re-wild themselves — readily adapting to new climates and ecosystems, like Southwest Colorado. We chose to upcycle wild apples into delicious traditional cider because they are here, in our backyard, thriving across the Colorado Plateau. We work with completely unique apple varieties that have been born wild, right here in Southwest Colorado, and would otherwise go to waste — dropping from relic orchards and wild apple trees as autumn begins. These apples are truly one-of-kind, ripe with the tannins and acidity we seek, revealing their own unique terroir when crafted in our ciders.
Our Backyard
At Fenceline, people and place are truly at the heart of everything we do. Located at the foot of the La Plata Mountains and as a part of the Colorado River watershed, we value the importance of our local ecosystems for both long-term community and environmental sustainability. And with apple orchards only using one-third of the water resources that an alfalfa crop does, reviving the historic orchards of Montezuma County (once producing more apples than the whole of Washington State) has never been more important to us and our Southwestern communities. What began by crafting a barrel of hard cider for a friend’s union from a handful of heirloom apple trees, has blossomed into the place for people, from near and far, to come together in the Mancos Valley, at our little spot on the river. And as thirty-plus local families deliver truckloads of handpicked heritage apples each harvest season, while our local collaborations with the Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project flourish, our apple story continues to grow across the Southwest. At our core, we know that it’s our unique backyard, wild apples, and great neighbors that come together to make the best of ciders — and we’re here to preserve it all
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141 S Main Street
Mancos, Colorado, 81328
Hours:
Thursday – Sunday | 2 PM – 8 PM