Juice from three different apple varieties go into the bottle. Winemaker David Runge can tell you that much. Granny Smith? Honeycrisp? Jazz? Braeburn? Cripps Pink, perhaps?

About that Runge can’t be certain.

Most winemakers would avoid a cask of unknown parts. But the man behind Hummingbird Vineyard & Winery has no such fear, embracing his share of apple juice delivered from Hickory Ridge Orchard and winning medals with the resulting fruit wine.

His trust comes from the source. Hickory Ridge grows with an organic ethic, picking seasonally. The blend changes based upon when each variety peaks.

“Fuji, Jonathan and Golden Delicious – that’s the most likely blend,” Hickory Ridge’s Brandt Schisler said of Runge’s current release.

Hummingbird’s Hickory Ridge apple wine welcomes you with aromas of freshly sliced fruit, trailed by a soft musty tone, as if it followed the basket of picked apples from the orchard. On the palate it unveils a rich, compote character before revealing a tingling note of cider.

The finish folds impressions of stewing apples with an earthy spice.

When growing apples for juice or wine, producers target a brix number – the percentage of sugars developed through the growing season. It’s for this reason winemakers believe the exact blend of varieties has only nuanced influences over the flavor profile.

For a wine from a single apple variety, however, some distinctions appear. This year Runge added a second style, the Hummingbird Vineyard Hickory Ridge sweet apple wine. From juice of the Gala apple, it is lean and elegant on the nose – almost peachy, with a light floral kiss.

At first sip one might doubt the wine’s claim to sweetness. It is plush, but spring blossoms and clover give it a sprightly sensation. The wine is pleasant, developing a notion of apple pie.

While a genteel soprano opens, the wine soon gathers a swelling tenor of roasted apple soaked in honey that lingers on the finish. So it trickles from almost dry to modestly sweet.

If the quality of the fruit belongs to Schisler, the wine is all Runge. He rests it in stainless steel to preserve the brightness of fresh fruit, racking repeatedly. The wine develops over four to six months.

“It has to sit awhile,” Runge explained. “But I don’t put any wood on it.”

Hummingbird’s original apple wine took silver in an American Wine Society competition. The newest introduction may give a different impression, but it is every bit the original’s equal.