News

Ask Matt ... about Bold Rock apples, U.S. 64 property, debris fire

By MATT MATTESON, Published: October 15, 2025

Q. Is Bold Rock Cider Company still using local apples?

Not any longer. If you walk into the handsome Bold Rock facility on Schoolhouse Road and peer over the bar you will see a maze of cider production equipment but it’s not being used. Tap room manager Heagan Biggs said that maybe next year they will make small batch ciders there. What is puzzling is that the Bold Rock website boasts, “At our Mills River, NC location, we proudly serve a diverse range of Bold Rock's locally crafted ciders, meticulously crafted from apples sourced right here in our community.” That might need to get fixed. The taproom patrons can also order beer, but none that is locally brewed.

Bold Rock began operations in Virginia in 2012 and opened its cidery and taproom in Mills River ten years ago. The cidery has since expanded its product line and opened taprooms in both states. But the company was recently acquired by Artisanal Brewing Ventures (ABV) headquartered in Charlotte where they have a taproom and cider-making facilities. The expanded company ships to some 20 states primarily on the East Coast and has expanded beyond hard cider to include hard tea, hard lemonade, craft spirits and ready-to-drink craft cocktails. We reached out to ABV to find where they source their apples but were unsuccessful.

There are two other cider companies in Henderson County, Appalachian Ridge and Flat Rock Cider Company. Both source apples locally. “We grow our own and we also use Barnwell’s apples,” said Barbara Walker who manages both the Appalachian Ridge and St. Paul’s Winery. “We blend cider just like wine – some sweet apples, some tart.” Walker thinks the sourcing of Bold Rock’s apples is a pricing issue, not the lack of the varieties they want. “They’re all here,” she said.

 Appalachian Ridge is opening a cider and wine tasting room in Atlantic Beach, NC. “We named it ‘St. Paul Mountain Vinyards Going Coastal’ and it will open October 8th,” said Walker. “We want to keep business in North Carolina and we’re sourcing local cheeses and two local beers.”

Q. I understand that Cooper Construction finally sold the lot on US64 West across from the City’s Oakdale Cemetery. Who bought it?

Blue Ridge Community Health Services (BRCHS) acquired the 1.2 acre “L” shaped parcel last year. Tammy Greenwell, BRCHS’s CEO, said that the plan is to build a new clinic on the site. “We are getting ready to start a capital campaign,” said Greenwell. The building will have clinic space and a pharmacy. The site will support the growth of BRCHS’s 12-year-old Teaching Health Center which is operating out of their Justice Street location. Because the construction is years away, the final square footage for the building is unknown but due to the slope of the site it will be multi-storied. “We are excited about the project because we will be able to retain our physicians and the proximity to Pardee Hospital is also a plus,” said Greenwell.

Established in the 1960s to serve vulnerable populations, BRCHS has several locations in WNC, the largest being the complex in the median of Chimney Rock Road (US64 East) next door to the Lost Sock Laundromat. By coincidence, BRCHS lost their CEO in September when Dr. Richard Hudspeth stepped down to run for Congress.

Q. Why is it taking so long to put out the fire in the stump dump in Mills River and how did it start?

It is assumed that the fire at the Riverside Stump Dump, which was first reported at 2 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, was caused by spontaneous combustion. It is not unusual for a pile of debris, in this case 75 feet high, to ignite by itself from heat. I spoke with Scott Burnette, the interim fire chief of the Mills River Fire & Rescue, who said the fire, now in its 10^th day, could burn for another week. “There is no risk of spreading,” the chief said. “There is a natural fire-break, a 24-hour on-site watch and continual checking by our department.” Burnette estimated that there were 15 tons of mulch, nearly all from Hurricane Helene. No other fire departments were called in for assistance.

 “Upon arriving at the scene, we focused on three exposures – the nearby cell tower, a propane tank and the office,” Burnette said. Fortunately, there was a fire hydrant at the dump’s entrance on NC 191. Some 4 million gallons of water had been applied.

“Because of the runoff, the Mills River ran black for four days and the city of Hendersonville Water Department switched to an alternative raw water intake,” he said.

Burnette explained the science of the fire. Because the fire was burning at the very bottom of a huge pile of mulch, water could not reach it and combustion was incomplete thus causing massive amounts of smoke. It may sound counterintuitive but adding water causes more smoke. “The best solution is to let the fire burn itself out,” Burnette said.

That was not readily accepted by neighbors such as the Appalachian Mountain Brewery next door. The tap room closed its doors last weekend due to shifting winds blowing smoke into the tap room.