Sonoma Cider returns under new Fresno-based ownership

A few years after the collapse of Sonoma Cider, the hard cider brand is back under a new owner with a goal to revive the label for fans across the country who embraced the craft drink — even if it’s not made locally anymore.

Full Circle Brewing Co. of Fresno bought the label and the cider recipes after the Healdsburg-based company was liquidated in 2018 to pay off its debt. One former investor estimated the company burned through $10 million before closing.

In the aftermath, the Sonoma Cider taproom in Healdsburg was taken over by the Wilson winemaking family for its Coyote Sonoma label and other production items were sold off.

Full Circle first started offering Sonoma Cider in its taproom about a year ago after being purchased by brewery owner Arthur Moye, said Adam Beam, marketing manager for Full Circle. The business already had a state license that allowed it to produce cider and had brewery staff who also had done winemaking and were familiar with different types of fermentation, Beam said.

“That made the pivot pretty dang simple,” Beam said. “We found some of the original juice suppliers from the Pacific Northwest of Washington and Oregon. Pretty much all the suppliers we were using are the exact same.”

The brewery is offering three of the brand’s most popular ciders — its apple, pear and bourbon-flavored drinks — and they are available at retail outlets in the area such as Trader Joe’s and on draft at taprooms. The goal is to expand its national outreach to take advantage of the Sonoma Cider name that had previously been available in 30 states.

“We actually have had a lot of people excited across the country. We already sent some pallets to the East Coast. We already had distribution for Full Circle all the way to the East Coast,” Beam said.

The push comes as there is some bullishness that regional hard ciders can be able to grow in a market that has been highly concentrated with large brands such as Angry Orchard. The American Cider Association notes regional cider brand sales in retail outlets were up 11% through the third quarter of 2021 compared to the previous year, according to the Nielsen market research firm.

Sonoma County has about a dozen producers of hard cider, with some growing their footprint. Golden State Cider of Healdsburg in November announced a national expansion to 40 states mostly through direct-to-consumer distribution. Ace Cider of Sebastopol is also growing its portfolio through its acquisition by Vintage Wine Estates of Santa Rosa with new flavors such as guava to target younger consumers and will open a plant to make ciders in Cincinnati later this year.

“Cider is doing well,” said Jeffrey House, who founded Ace Cider in 1993 and now serves as a consultant to the company. “We’re going to get a lot of support from Ohio.”

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.