499: The Omnia Era of Cider | Pommes in Art Revisited

Before Episode 500 of Cider Chat, this episode takes a moment to pause, look back, and consider the era of cider we are currently living in.

Originally recorded in the spring of 2020 during a time of global shutdowns, this Pommes in Art episode explored the relationship between art history and cider history — and introduced the idea of what host Ria Windcaller called the Omnia Era of Cider. “Omnia” is Latin for everything, and it describes the current period in cider where everything is happening at once: traditional cider making, modern cider styles, co-ferments, heritage apples, urban cideries, orchard-based cideries, wild fermentation, cultured yeast, and new regions emerging around the world.

Looking at art history, we now recognize periods such as the Renaissance and the Mannerist period as distinct eras, but the people living during those times did not realize they were part of a defined movement. Only later do historians look back and name the era. The same may be true for cider today.

We may be living in one of the most important periods in modern cider history — and we may not fully understand it until years from now.

This episode revisits the Pommes in Art story and the Omnia Era concept as we approach Episode 500 of Cider Chat.

In This Episode

• Pommes (apples and pears) in art history
• Renaissance art and symmetry
• The Mannerist period and artistic change
• Giuseppe Arcimboldo and the portrait of Rudolf II
• Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit trees and orchards
• The concept of cider eras
• Early cider, pre-Prohibition cider, post-Prohibition cider
• The modern cider revival
• The Omnia Era of Cider
• Why storytelling connects people to cider
• Living through an era vs. understanding it later
• Transformation, experimentation, and cider making
• Looking ahead to Episode 500

Key Takeaway

We don’t realize we are living in an era until it is already over.
The cider world today may one day be recognized as a defining period in cider history — the Omnia Era — when everything was possible and cider was being reinvented around the world.

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