🍏 The Millennial Ice Cider

In this new collaboration, I embarked on a sensory journey with Masaveu Bodegas, specifically with their most unique project: Valverán, the Asturian cider house that pioneered ice cider production in Spain. This union between art and cider is born from a shared philosophy: patience, artisanal dedication, and deep respect for the land.

Valverán is more than a cider house—it’s a magical enclave in the municipality of Sariego, nestled in the heart of Asturias’ Cider Region. There, over 20,000 apple trees are cultivated with care under integrated agriculture, and each bottle of their ice cider Valverán 20 Manzanas is the result of a meticulous two-year process.

When I received the three bottles in their beautifully designed boxes, elegant and understated, I knew I was holding something special. The packaging alone spoke of the care and detail poured into its creation.

🧊 Apples Born of Ice

The artwork I created for this collaboration is a tribute to the apple—but also to ice, to the land, and to time itself. On the canvas, I sought to depict a vast field where apples emerge directly from the earth, without trees, without trunks, as if they were primordial fruits born from the very essence of Asturian soil.

The tourmaline tones that run through the painting evoke the ice—an element that transforms the must into elixir. These cool yet vibrant colors contrast with the warm hues of the apples, creating a visual tension that mirrors the balance between sweetness and acidity that defines this cider.

In my piece, the apple symbolizes origin, memory, and transformation. I drew inspiration from a personal story: on Saturdays, when my mother worked, my father would prepare fruit bowls for my sister and me. Banana, pear… and always apple. We hated it. But over time, we grew to enjoy it. The apple became a ritual, and later, a shared passion for cider. Today, cider is essential at every family celebration, and my father—an absolute enthusiast—serves it with pride. When I told him about this collaboration, he was thrilled, and of course, we shared a bottle together during a wonderful family gathering.

This painting is also a tribute to him, to those simple moments that, with time, become pure nostalgia.

❄️ Tasting the Ice of the Earth

Tasting Valverán 20 Manzanas felt like drinking a landscape. Served in a Sauternes glass, its golden color with coppery reflections already hinted at something extraordinary. On the nose, it was like opening a box of sweet memories: honey, caramel, passion fruit, mandarin… but above all, green apple and caramelized apple, as if time had paused in an Asturian orchard. It truly stirred a sense of nostalgia.

As I tasted it, those memories resurfaced. For me, those Saturdays when my mother worked were strange, a bit sad, because she was the one I spent most of the week with while my father worked. The day felt slow without her, but those fruit bowls filled with apple and the little moments my sister and I shared with our father ended up becoming beautiful memories that will never fade. At the end of the day, we would all go pick up my mother from work, and that was the pinnacle of happiness.

Returning to the cider tasting: on the palate, the entry is sweet and silky, with a comforting touch of honey. But what surprises is the fresh, acidic finish that cleanses the palate and invites another sip. That Saturday experience with my family is a bit like tasting this ice cider. The beginning is sweet—my mother was with us for a while in the morning before we said goodbye—and then the day would unfold, sometimes better, sometimes worse. But by the end, the acidity would cleanse everything: we’d go pick her up, and everything felt right again. She brings peace, and that’s the sensation that lingers after tasting this Valverán gem.

One fascinating detail about this cider is that each bottle contains the concentrated and fermented must of at least 20 native Asturian apple varieties: Raxao, Durona de Tresali, Verdialona, De la Riega, Xuanina, and Fuentes. These varieties, grown on Valverán’s estate, contribute a complexity you can feel—even if you can’t quite put it into words.

✨ The Apple Turned Cider That Soothes the Soul

This collaboration felt like reconnecting with my roots—with my family. As many of you know, I’m deeply family-oriented, and that’s reflected in many of my artistic projects. Valverán 20 Manzanas is not just a cider—it’s a beautiful metaphor for how every experience in life has a purpose, a meaning. They lead us to other experiences, and what once seemed like a problem may, in time, reveal itself as something good and necessary, even if we didn’t understand it back then.

The painting I created is an attempt to capture that voice, that memory, those emotions I’ve shared here. The apples rising directly from the soil are also memories—unstoppable, irrepressible emotions. Thank you to Masaveu Bodegas and Valverán for allowing me to evoke these memories through your cider, which is, quite simply, a masterpiece.