Wine lovers looking for new taste treats would do well to investigate craft ciders, a fast-growing category of beverage that is still well below almost everyone’s radar.

Not below that of Tom Wark, however.

Wark is a Napa Valley-based public relations specialist who has worked with wine industry people for years and also has long been a wine blogger. His site, Fermentation, is one of the most active of the wine sites. (FermentationWineBlog.com)

I was chatting with Tom the other day about nothing very earth-shaking when the pitch in his voice rose and he asked me what I knew of ciders. I said I knew there were some, and that they varied greatly in style.

Wark, who discovered craft ciders out of sheer curiosity 18 months ago, said that there were hundreds of tiny cider producers around North America (including a growing industry in Canada), and that the craft side of the business represents only 5 percent of all ciders now available.