Two sip cider

I was at a meeting recently with a group of tree fruit pest
management professionals, and at the reception folks always bring
libations from back home. Naturally, I brought samples of my
cider. This was my showcase blend, a combination of dry bittersweet
and North American sharps with a touch of keeved sweet cider. Also
there was an 'Apple Wine' from a winery on Long Island. Now I tend to
look askance at commercial apple wines which tend to taste like
high-alcohol mild apple juices. A former colleague of mine was
trying my cider against this other wine, and was, as most people are,
taken aback a bit by the first sip of my bittersweet mix, noting that
it tasted a 'little funky'. After the second sip, however, he noted
that the flavor really grows on you, as the taste buds realign for
this slightly different beverage. A sip of the apple wine he found
pleasant if unobtrusive, but he noted on the second swig that it
didn't have anything left to give. "Your cider takes one sip to get
you oriented, then tastes pretty good thereafter," he noted, "where
that apple wine gives all it has on the first taste but hasn't got
anything left after that." I think that's a good description of real
cider, with the exception being that if you are used to it you can
enjoy what it has from the first taste, and it holds up very well thereafter.

TB