Indigeny Reserve

Delicious organic apple cider. Got a tour from the owner and it was interesting, fun and delicious. Free samples of the brandy, vodka and cider. Dog friendly, ours even went on the tour with us. :) Bought brandy and cider to take home. Oh and they have a great gift shop with all kinds of goodies — got a candle and a bath bomb.

Came for our first time today. Friendly informative staff. Great ciders and «cellos». We liked the orangecello. They will begin selling their cellos in about 30 days or so, but tasting them is part of the experience. Bring your own clean growler and u get the refill price or buy one and fill up on your favorite cider. We brought our own and filled with organic cider. We will be back!

It definitely pays to get off the beaten path, stray as your heart desires and you will be well rewarded.
We discovered Indigeny and had the great fortune of meeting its founder, Jay Watson, and he gave us a great tour. He is an affable man with gentle ways that translates to the way he looks and treats nature and his orchards.
Organic practices and sustainability for these folks are a way of life and a commitment from the heart. You can see it in the way they offer nature walks on their property for the public to enjoy. The buildings blend beautifully into the landscape rather than imposing itself obtrusively.
The products are to be admired, from the crisp fresh taste of the ciders, to the unique flavors of their multiple choices of vodka, to their signature brandy, this place is such a delightful find you have to consider yourself fortunate to have found such bucolic masterpiece.
When you come to this place and you’re up for a picnic, tables are available and along with basket, enjoy their drinks right on the pastoral settings. The friendly staff would surely enjoy having you as their guest to experience what they see everyday.
Enjoy and I hope I was able to share wonderful experiences our group.

Top quality organic products from an environmental refuge, does it get better? Surrounding apple orchards are intact old growth forests that house a buck with the biggest rack I’ve ever seen in California. It boarders Phoenix Lake a no-​motor boat, no swimming, fishing only, drinking water lake with an immense tulle reed system providing natural filtration to the ground water recharging. This location has quite possibly the most pure and sustainable water supply of any commercial farm in CA.
Try the small batch vodka’s from the complementary bar, the orange vodka tastes like a higher quality Gran Mariner, it’s outstanding!

Very stylish and modern tasting room as soon as you walk in. No cost for the tasting and you can get a FULL glass of cider for about $ 4 – 6 I think. Beautiful setting outside where you can enjoy a picnic and it looks like a beautiful venue, wish I could get married again just to experience it! Great growler deals and the cutest mini keg design. OK gift shop. Worth the drive out, go now!

This place is amazing! Organic Hard Cider, Apple Brandy, Apples, awesome gift shop! Kid and dog friendly as well

I love hard cider and I love local breweries, so when I saw that there was a cider distillery in the Tuolumne area, I knew I had to stop.
The grounds are just gorgeous and if you do it right, you could probably spend must of a day there. They offer a hard cider, an organic hard cider with less sugar, a blackberry cider, and an apple brandy to taste. Tours are also available, which I highly recommend. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable about both the product and the property and made the experience that much better. They also sell their apples in addition to the ciders, which I thought was pretty awesome.

Beautiful grounds, enjoyed tasting their Apple Hard Cider, Organic Hard Cider (with less sugar), and Blackberry Cider. You get a wine glass full of your choice for $ 2, which is a great price and you can buy single Apple Hard Ciders for $ 1.75 or get a 6 pack, 750ml, or a growler. I bought a couple Apple Hard Ciders and a Blackberry Growler. They were busy so didn’t get to take the tour this time, but have taken it before and enjoyed it.

Hard Cider tasting. Basically, that is about all you need to know.
I have had hard cider before, but not like this. It was not hard to decide if we would bring some home. Yup we did. The stuff bottled in black metal bottles with a red apple graphic… this is the *good* stuff. This has the true apple taste. Certified Organic. This is the «Reserve».
They even offer apple brandy tasting, but you are escorted into the intimate, oak barrel room for that tasting. How fun is that? But frankly, it is the cider that woo’s me.
Meanwhile, while I take a moment to clean the drool off my shirt, please enjoy the pictures of the lovely surrounds.
You must take a windy drive from old Sonora, east into the hills of the Mother Lode and follow the signs to the rustic Apple Valley Ranches on Apple Hill Rd. You will find yourself following a funky, one-​lane country road that takes you through some picture perfect rural parts, past ancient apple orchards, a dried up creek and a picturesque (made to look old) covered bridge. You may feel lost, but trust your GPS. And once you arrive, you will be pleasantly surprised by the large parking area, many picnic tables, deer, geese, strategically placed, old farm equipment, hiking trails, and a handsome, newly constructed barn-​like building. Completely built with beautiful cedar and oak, this is where you will find your tasting rooms, a great gift shop, and if you are lucky, a tour to see the stunning copper distillery.
I know you will enjoy your experience here. And if you live a distance from here, make sure you bring some home. They distribute to a very limited list of local businesses (restaurants and markets), all east of SF in the Central Valley and Gold Country.

Excellent experience. The ciders were very good. Beautiful property. Staff was wonderful. I would love to visit them again.

While on a little vacation with family, we kept seeing Indigeny organic cider on tap at bars and restaurants. We LOVE hard cider, and we rarely see it anywhere in southern California. One taste, and I was hooked. A little internet research showed that one cannot really buy this anywhere in Southern California, so we decided that we needed to go buy at least a case.
Even just the drive up to the reserve is absolutely beautiful. Driving up the lane to the tasting room, I was just in awe. If I had known about this place 15 years ago, I for sure would have wanted to try to get married here. I don’t know if they do weddings, but WOW! It’s like a fairy tale forest, just so incredibly beautiful.
We were just making a quick stop before heading north to see family, so we didn’t go on a tour or anything, but we were delighted that they were happy to serve us tastes of everything. The organic is probably the best as far as taste, but they only serve it by the jug, not by the case. If you buy the crisp cider by the case, then it comes in metal bottles that really do keep it very cold while you are drinking it, which is fantastic. It truly does taste best cold. It didn’t bother me that it isn’t organic because obviously, it’s just not «certified» organic, but they grow it all right there, and it is obviously real, natural farming.
We ended up buying two cases at a price that is just a little more than we’d pay per bottle for something like Angry Orchard, but the taste is fantastic, and we are contributing to a small local business.
I really, really wish that they sold the cases in BevMo or something because it is SO, SO good. I’d be a regular customer.

This hidden gem is definitely worth going to if you are in the area of Sonora or if you are making your way to Yosemite. They have a tour where they show you the entire process of making a batch of their apple cider. They offer free tastings before and during the tour so if you have hesitations about going out of your way to check this place out, just think FREE BOOZE! Of course you have to be 21. The people here are very friendly and they give you an ample amount of their cider for the tasting. I’m not a big fan of alcohol but I could drink the Indigeny cider and organic cider like water. I think it is somewhat on the sweeter side which is good because I am not a big fan of dry cider. However, the sweetness is not overpowering and you can taste the distinct flavor of the apples. I was told that each each seasons cider will vary a little in taste because of the qualities of the apple. What impressed me the most though was how sustainable they are. Since we are experiencing such a severe drought, it gives me an excuse to drink more of their Apple cider!

I really enjoy everything at Indigeny, and have made it the place that I take people who have never been. The grounds are beautiful for a picnic lunch, or even just to wander. Very nice gift shop, AND this year they let you sign a bottle that they will grow a apple inside of for you to come back for in late fall. Very cool idea!
The only thing that I would change would be to be able to buy pints to drink while you are there. Sit in the sun and drink cider sounds great!

We had a great time at Indigeny. The tour was fun and informative, tastings were generous, and grounds were beautiful. My favorite was the organic cider, which was much less sweet than their reserve cider. We ended up leaving with a growler of the organic cider (return empty bottle for a discount on your next visit), bottles of both the reserve and organic, and a bottle of their apple brandy too. Everything was very reasonably priced as well. Awesome place!

Seems like Indigeny is doing pretty good on here without my little review however I just cannot crow enough about my favorite business in Tuolomne County.
The tours are simple, but then again so is their organically raised crop of apples and the quality of both shine through. The tasting is where you will trully learn to appreciate this great cider and distillery however as you sample some of THE best cider ever.
Indigeny, my hat is tipped to you folks and I wish you Godspeed in your future pursuits. It’s a fantastic start, keep rolling!

This place is worth checking out. If you’re in the area, pop on over for an hour or so, take a tour, sample some booze, etc. If you’re traveling to get here, and Indigeny is your actual destination (and not just a stop off), you can make this GREAT if you do just a little planning.
Specifically:
1) Go during good weather, when plants are green — the scenery is lovely there, and you can enjoy beverages at a picnic table.
2) Pack a picnic — this place is perfect for a leisurely lunch. There is plenty of space for kids to run around, too. If you don’t feel like making a bunch of food, you can stop at one of the cute delis or markets in Angel’s Camp or Sonora (if you’re coming from the west) or pick up goodies from Alicia’s Sugar Shack in Mi Wuk (if you’re coming from the east).
3) Follow the directions from the website or other Unilocal reviews. As noted, your gps will just mess you up.
You can expect to sample several varieties are high quality hard cider, as well as apple brandy, and vodka. I’m not usually a hard cider fan, but Indigeny was delicious. Their cider tastes fresh and crisp — it’s not too sweet, while still having a lot of fruit in the taste. The staff was friendly, and was great at answering product and process questions, and the short tour was really interesting, if you (like I) don’t know much about alcohol distillation or fruit storage. The owner also participates in the tour.

Beautiful spot to bring the family and have a picnic while the adults enjoy fresh hard cider. During the Fall they have an amazing variety of pumpkins and a corn maze for kids. Tours are also available and you can buy the hard cider to take home!

It’s been months since we visited, but the other night I got out the Apple Brandy and had a taste with my wife. It is in an elite class, especially for a small distillery. It goes down smoothly with the distinct flavor of apple on the tongue. The drive took a little while to get there, but the scenery along the way was epic and the place itself was most impressive. They run a really tight operation, making hard cider, brandy, and now various flavored vodkas. The purity of their products (much of it is organic) is explained on the behind-​the-​scenes tour. They are huge in the local area, and I hope they get into the Bay Area market soon too. If you visit one alcoholic beverage maker in Gold Country/​Yosemite, make it this one. You’ll be back (we will)!

Entirely worth the drive up from the East Bay. But DO NOT TRUST SIRI. As stated in a previous review, use the directions on the website. But let’s get to the good stuff…
HOLY DELICIOUS CIDER BATMAN! We were immediately greeted by what I later found out was the owner. He instantly got my wife and I a couple of samples of cider, which were AMAZING. We chatted a bit. We then got to try both orange and lemon vodkas. After that we were set up with a small tour. Tour was nice. On the tour you get to sample their brandy. I’m not much a brandy person, but this was actually smooth and tolerable. It also comes in a beautiful glass if you opt to take some home.
Tour guide mentioned you can walk the orchard and go see a mine. So we did that also. Small walk. Kinda nice. We then returned and walked around the gift shop a bit and bought a bunch of cider to take home.
There is a huge area with picnic tables. So if you plan ahead you can bring a lunch and enjoy it there.
We took some home video while at Indigeny (and also at Gunn House Hotel). You can get an idea of what the place is like by checking on that video below…
We had a great time. I could definitely imagine myself returning with some friends in the future.

Highly recommend visiting this place, they have the best apple cider I’ve had. I usually dislike ciders that are too sweet but this one was spot on and you could almost smell the fresh apples as you sip it.
The apple orchards are on premises, very nice for a picnic. Everything is made/​brewed on-​site as well.
I hope one day us folks in the Bay Area can buy their products in local stores or have it shipped.
Looking forward to the vodkas they’re producing!