If you love a good story, here’s a cider for the ages

Fox Hill Farm in Jamestown spans 64 acres with numerous apple trees, which yield the fruit used to make its Turncoat! ciders, a brew steeped in history & romance

Photos by Nicole Tiexiera

Though Benedict Arnold garners a nationwide reputation as a traitor to the efforts of the American Revolution, Rhode Islanders have another, earlier Benedict Arnold who comes to mind — the state’s first governor. Each day, tourists and locals alike pass his burial site on Pelham Street in Newport, but the gubernatorial Arnold’s living legacy can be found on the other side of the Newport Bridge in nearby Jamestown.

Situated on the southwestern shores of Conanicut Island, adjacent to Fort Getty, Fox Hill Farm is a stunning 64 acres, bound by 25 conservation acres on either side. It’s an appropriate buttress for the property, as owners Jeff and Abby Boal are committed to the historic preservation and continued sustainability of the organic, 100% carbon-neutral farm. They are devout in this respect, and were honored in 2023 by Preserve Rhode Island for the impeccable stewardship of Fox Hill, which has been a working farm since 1670.

Though the farm boasts several crops, like blueberries and honey, the darling of Fox Hill is its Turncoat! ciders, made from heirloom apples grown in its expansive orchards. “We had experimented with cattle. We keep sheep, but they’re a lot of work,” Jeff explains. And there were already hundreds of apple trees on the farm. “Not that apple trees aren’t a lot of work, but we felt ultimately that an orchard was in keeping with the historic nature of the farm.” So when the couple purchased the property in 2014, they planted an additional 1,000.

That winter, Jamestown experienced an unusually heavy snowfall. As the snow melted, it delivered a boost of moisture into the soil, giving the Boals’ thousand-plus trees a mast year, producing an excessive amount of fruit. They couldn’t believe just how many apples were in their yield. Unsure of what to do with so much product, they filled a massive wooden crate and put it out on the street with a “free” sign for passersby. “I mean, there are only so many apple cakes you can make, right?” Abby recalls warmly. Even after giving away so many apples, the Boals had an enormous amount of fruit. Inspired by the colonial history of the property, they decided to try some homemade cider. Their predecessors, like many early farmers, had no potable water. The next best option for a bacteria-free drink was fermented apple juice, which became a low-ABV option for all ages. “Everyone was drunk,” Jeff jokes.

The Boals’ first homemade batch, produced nearly 10 years ago, was just for fun — something to try with their family. They even named that first bottle Barnyard Funk, expecting it to be more of a fond memory than anything. But to their surprise, the cider was quite good. And suddenly, they had an exciting prospect to not only use up the incredible amount of apples on hand, but to honor the undeniable history of the farm itself.

“We felt like [cider] was a good way to pay respect to the past, but also do it in a way that was with our own sort of modern take.” Though the traitorous Benedict Arnold had no direct ties to his great-grandfather’s farm, the Boals couldn’t resist leaning into the wink of using his reputation, and Turncoat Cidery was born. “We’ve taken a little bit of license, and people love the name,” Jeff says.

The ciders are made using blends of 14 different bittersweet and bittersharp apples, including Dolgo, Chestnut crabapple, Roxbury Russet, Pitmaston Pineapple, and Winesap, all grown at Fox Hill Farm. Quality and consistency are important to the Boals, and so they partnered with Ron Sansone, the owner of Spoke & Spy Ciderworks in Middletown, Conn., and president of the Cider Institute of North America, to create their ciders.

“In a classic heirloom style cider, there aren’t a lot of additives,” Jeff explains, noting that many popular ciders use other fruit additives to give the product character and nuance. The Boals prefer to let the exquisite quality of their apples speak for themselves. “We like it just to be straight.”

All the apples used are pressed in one week, what the Boals refer to as the annual press week, which typically yields 600-900 gallons of juice. Typically, the apples are picked in early/mid-October and then are bin-ripened prior to pressing, which is done in late October or early November.

Turncoat Cidery produces three varieties: American Heritage, a semisweet sparkling cider; English Traditional, its most popular, a semi-dry sparkling cider; and Madeira Cask, a dry sparkling cider aged for months in Portuguese Madeira wine casks.

Jeff is particularly proud of the Madeira Cask. He traces his family roots back to the vineyards of Portugal and notes that Boal is the name of a grape used to make Madeira wine, which America’s founders poured nearly 250 years ago to toast the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Abby recently discovered, by chance, another historical connection to the farm. “Samuel Gorton, my 14th great-grandfather, was Gov. Benedict Arnold’s arch nemesis,” she shares with a smile.

While Fox Hill Farm is neither a public nor an event space, Jeff and Abby understand the property emits a sort of siren song that beckons admirers and curious minds. Indeed, admiration from afar is what brought the couple to first visit Fox Hill, after reading an article in Forbes magazine in fall of 2013, listing it as one of the country’s most desirable properties on the market at the time. They purchased the farm in February of 2014.

Retiring from their media and TV production careers, they made Fox Hill their forever home and are keen to keep its legacy intact, going so far as to include in their estate planning that no future custodian may break up the property or develop it beyond its original intent.

The two met as friends while sailing in Stamford, Conn., about 20 years ago. Jeff, 64, and Abby, 61, are both avid sailors, and their frequent encounters sparked a friendship, with joint sailing trips on Jeff ’s boat. “[It was] completely platonic. We would go out Tuesday nights,” says Abby, who would often bring mix CDs of new music she wanted to share with Jeff.

In the first few years, they were both dating other people. One winter evening, though, they were on their way to a party and had a terrifying spin-out on an icy road. They were so shaken by the incident, they decided to skip the party. But the scary encounter also emboldened Jeff to act on what was brewing between them. “We get back to the house and we’re getting out of the car, and I just remember going to reach out for something and he laid a kiss on me,” Abby recalls. “I was like, oh, wow. He does like me.”

They’ve now been married for more than 15 years.

To capture the full history of the area and the love bestowed upon the property, the Boals have commissioned a book, Fox Hill Farm: An Enduring Legacy. “We have taken advantage of the deep creative talent in Rhode Island and Newport County, using locals Onne van der Wal for photography, Isabel Babcock for design, and Tripp Evans for research and writing,” Jeff says. The book is currently in production, with plans for it to be sold at local bookstores throughout Newport County.

Turncoat ciders are distributed by Wine Wizards and are available at more than 30 locations around the state, including Grapes & Gourmet (Jamestown), Thames Street Kitchen (Newport), and Sandy’s Liquors (Middletown). For more information about Turncoat, visit www.turncoatcidery.com.