One of our favorite highlights living here in Rockbridge County, Virginia is the annual cider-squeezin’ party hosted by our friends Steve and Wendy Richards at their Sideway Farm. Early every November they provide the apples, an antique cider press, and a bucolic setting in which to entertain friends for a festive day of cider-squeezin’, pot-luck feastin’, and old-time music.

Prior to the date, Steve coaxes his old Chevy truck across the Blue Ridge Mountains on a quest to Dickie Brothers Orchard in Amherst County—a family farm derived from a land grant by King George in colonial times—where he buys hundreds of pounds of cider apples. Guests bring their jugs to the party, take turns cranking the press, and take home a stash of this delicious old-time beverage. It is hard to imagine a nicer bunch of people or a better time than this. These photos are a selection from the cider parties between 2007 and 2012. We look forward to many more to come.