- Established
- 2021
- People
- Giles and Rollo Wood
- Based in
- Beaminster, Dorset
- Craft
- Cidermaking
The Local’s perspective
An old orchard, a fresh chapter
Isaac Cider grows its apples on a 40-acre family orchard near Beaminster, turning a landscape planted in 1972 into a modern range of Dorset ciders. The Local has tasted five expressions across still, sparkling and low-alcohol styles.
The story
Forty acres and a family inheritance
Coombe Down Farm’s cider orchard was planted in 1972, creating forty acres of fruit in the country between Beaminster and Bridport. Decades later, that landscape became the foundation for Isaac Cider: a family business giving an inherited orchard a new chapter.
Giles and Rollo Wood are the father-and-son team behind the business. Rollo came to cidermaking after a career in wildlife documentary production, bringing a different kind of storytelling to the family farm.
The cider begins with apples grown on the farm. The harvested fruit is pressed locally, before the juice is fermented in the family’s cider barns.
The family traces a connection to Sir Isaac Newton—a story reflected in names such as Calculus, Refraction and Anti-Gravity. It gives the range a playful identity, rooted in the family’s own history.
The people
Meet Giles and Rollo
Giles and Rollo Wood are the father-and-son team behind Isaac Cider. Their orchard was planted by the previous generation in 1972. Rollo later moved from wildlife documentary production into the family business, helping turn its apples into a distinctive range of Dorset ciders.
Inside the making
Keeping the orchard productive
At Isaac, the orchard is more than a backdrop. Planted in 1972, it remains a productive part of the family’s West Dorset farm, supplying the cider apples at the heart of the range. Making cider gives that established orchard a continuing role in the next generation’s business.
Our recommendation
Five ciders, plenty of character
Isaac makes provenance easy to understand: the orchard is the source of the fruit and a place visitors can experience. The Local's tasting found a fresh, apple-led range with real breadth, from food-friendly still cider to a convincing low-alcohol bottle.
Shop with the maker
A sense of place
Between Beaminster and Bridport
Beaminster, Dorset
