Fruit grows in the field - and sometimes in the woods.  Growing fruit is just a variation of farming.  Fruit for wine get a little more attention to plant health, sugar level and flavor - and a little less attention to how it looks.

We get nearly all our apples from Brightonwoods Orchard. Especially "Heritage" or Antique varieties.  We also picked up some modern varieties from local producers.

Once you have the fruit in hand, you need to extract the juice.  This usually means breaking up the fruit into pieces and using pressure to squeeze out the juice.  Grapes just have the skins broken - if they get any crushing at all.  Apples need to be ground nearly to apple sauce.

A cider press works a little differently from a grape press, because it requires higher pressure and the fruit is ground pretty fine.