This former cattle auction barn is now a public apple cider tasting room at Castle Hill. hawes spencer

If you've recently taken the tour at Monticello, you've learned that it was hard cider– not beer, wine, or water– that was most likely accompanying Mr. Jefferson's meals. Back in 2009, it was the Albemarle CiderWorks grabbing headlines with a governor's visit. Then, this past October, a former cattle auction barn at the sprawling Castle Hill estate in Keswick horse country that threw open its doors to the public with a two-level, fireplace-equipped tasting room. Now comes word from the Crozet Gazette that a Danville native hopes to open the area's third cidery by the end of the year, a place that will be called Bold Rock Cidery and located in Nellysford. Why, when Albemarle CiderWorks opened in 2008, it became just the second cidery in the state, but now it looks like there are four (the first is in the southwestern part of the state), with more on the way!