В Нью-Мексико открыли винный завод Black Jack Cidery, производящий элитный сидр из яблок семейного сада

On paper, the son of a pistachio farmer and a roller-derby-revival trailblazer might not seem to have much in common.  But for Jon Schwartz and Manda Clair Jost, their unique backgrounds have converged into something delicious.  Schwartz, an El Paso businessman, and Jost, a biology professor at Western New Mexico University, are partners in Black Jack Cidery, a boutique cider brewing enterprise nestled in Mountain Park, New Mexico.  As fall brings crisp air to the 700-tree orchard overlooking Southern New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin, the two are prepping for the apple harvest. Dozens of apple varieties will become thousands of gallons of bubbly hard cider.  “Even just the straight cider we make, before it’s fermented, it’s the most delicious thing you’ve ever had,” Schwartz said.  The story of how Black Jack came to be is as enchanting as the property’s rows of mature apple trees.  Jost, the cidermaster of Black Jack, was about 11 when she and her family moved from Houston to Mountain Park, next to what is now the Black Jack orchard. Jost and her dad, architect Richard Jost, looked forward to the first freeze each fall, when they would press sweet apple juice to preserve and enjoy all winter and spring.  Jost studied at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, then received her doctorate from Harvard University. There, she met Farish Jenkins, a paleontology professor. Jenkins caught wind of Jost’s juice making and shared his family recipe for a Champagne-like hard apple cider.  After leaving Harvard, Jost accepted her first teaching position in Austin, where she and a group of friends helped lead a punk roller-derby revival. The sport rose from forgotten depths of midcentury popularity and became a hit in Texas and beyond.  She moved to Silver City in 2008 but returned home to High Rolls often. Around the same time, she began making more of Jenkins’ hard cider, usually for her family and an annual Christmas party.  Jost's dad met Schwartz first, and suggested he get in touch with Manda to learn more about all things apples. “We struck up a conversation and just took a bit of a gamble. I said, ‘Jon, what are you going to do with this orchard? It’s a lot of work, pesticides, washing, to take to farmers markets,” Jost said. “He said he didn’t know what he was going to do. I told him, ‘If I were you, I’d turn this into a cider orchard. He said, ‘Tell me more.’” Schwartz has always had a green thumb. His dad, a prominent El Paso lawyer who died in 2024, acquired a Dell City ranch in the 1980s and planted pistachio trees. “My pistachio trees, I think, miss my dad, who passed away a couple years ago,” Schwartz said. “They’re mad because all my intentions are going into the apple trees. I haven’t had a good crop out there in the last couple of years. The apple orchards are really my babies right now.”  After retiring, Jon and Tracy Schwartz were in the market for property in the Sacramento Mountains. They found the Draney Orchard, fell in love with the land, and closed in December 2024. Since then, the Schwartzes have been tending to the trees, freshening up the home and historic barn and learning what the orchard needs to thrive.  From bear-proofing beehives to repairing the spring-fed irrigation system, there’s always something to do at the orchard.   “It’s a good process. I love it,” Schwartz said. “I sleep like a dead cowboy every night.”  For much of its long history, the property was known as the Draney Orchard. Mountain Park and the surrounding villages have long been a hot spot for apples. The orchard includes a 100-year-old barn, where much of the cider processing now occurs.  “We’re really focused on the place and the history of these orchards,” Jost said. “There’s a term that winemakers refer to as terroir, which is the concept that the land and water that goes to growing the grapes is everything. We’re taking that philosophy with this orchard.”  On a recent sunny afternoon, 7,000 feet above sea level, a small group of visitors spent a couple of hours touring the orchard. As Schwartz and Jost named the varieties, the guests took in sweeping views of White Sands National Park and beyond.  Jost and Schwartz brew seven varieties of hard cider at Black Jack: Quercus, Queen of May, The Messenger, Oso Serrano, Ruby Throat, Polecat and Farish, the one that started it all. Each has its own flavor profile, from dry to sweet. Some are hopped, while others have cherry juice from trees grown next door at Jost’s parents’ property.  Black Jack recently received its federal cidermaking permit, and the state permit is coming soon. Schwartz and Jost are hammering out the distribution details for about 5,000 gallons of cider annually. The industry refers to that amount as a nano cidery, Jost said.  The two are eyeing nearby New Mexico breweries and tasting rooms, and possibly a subscription model, for their hard cider. Both said it was less about the profit and more about the love of the process.  “We never want to do more than what we can get out of that orchard,” Jost said.