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Max Allen. Winemaker Iñaki Otegi Gaztelumendi has worked in vineyards around the world, from Spain to New Zealand to Canada. But his passion project is this rare, sweet cider he calls Malus Mama.

"Malus" is the botanical name for apple. "Mama" is a Basque term for top quality. Inspired by Canadian ice-cider – made using juice pressed from frozen apples in winter – Gaztelumendi harvests almost-forgotten varieties of Basque apples and freeze-concentrates the juice to intensify the sugar, acid and flavour before fermentation and barrel ageing. It's a laborious process that produces tiny quantities of nectar: in 2011, Gaztelumendi bottled just 2500 half-bottles. But the effort has paid off. Malus Mama has become a cult hit, appearing on wine lists at some of the finest restaurants in Europe.

Basque ice-cider

I had the opportunity to taste the 2011 Malus Mama during a lunch with some of Australia's top sommeliers recently. And it was obvious this intensely sweet cider was messing with a few of their heads.

For many people, the word "cider" signifies a cheap, sweet, fizzy drink served over ice in a pub. So this extraordinary Basque ice-cider was a revelation.

Some somms have already twigged to the subtleties of top-quality cider. For the past few years, Eric Bordelet's incredible French cidre – and poiré, made from fermented pears – have been appearing on the wine lists of our top restaurants.

Bordelet was a sommelier at a Michelin three-starred restaurant himself before taking over his family's orchards in Normandy in 1992. He set about reviving old varieties of apple and pear – some of them growing on trees planted three centuries ago on granite soils – and started producing cidre (or "sydre" as he calls it) and poiré with as much finesse and terroir-driven minerality as the finest wines.

Cider and cheese

Like fine wine, these ciders are made for food. The Bordelet Poiré Granit provided one of the best food-and-drink matches I've ever experienced, at Momofuku Sieobo in Sydney. It was the perfect foil to a bowl of grated C2 cheese from Bruny Island and a thin sheet of crackling-like honey liquorice.

The complex quality of top ciders like these comes from the varieties of apple (and pear) used in their production. French cider varieties such as Frequin Rouge Amer and English varieties like Bulmer's Norman taste nothing like your normal eating apple – bite into them and they're chewy, bitter, tannic. Once fermented, though, those characters transform into rich flavours and beautiful tongue-hugging texture.

Dozens of apple varieties are now grown in Australia thanks to pioneering orchardists and cider makers such as the Henry family of Harcourt in central Victoria. And while most producers blend them – in the same way winemakers blend cabernet and merlot, or semillon and sauvignon – a few, such as Willie Smith's in Tasmania's Huon Valley, release single-varietal examples.

Again, these ciders don't just work as stand-alone, thirst-quenching drinks. Try the Kingston Black reviewed here with, say, roast pork and crackling, creamy mashed spuds and some apple slices fried in butter and you'll never go back to boring old chardonnay again.

2015 Eric Bordelet Sydre Argelette, Normandy $35

Argelette is an old Norman name for the stony soils in which Bordelet's apple trees are planted. This is a very wine-like cider: fragrant, dry and laced with minerals like an aged blanc de noir champagne. Drink with something fishy – mussels steamed in cider, perhaps. Imported by vintageandvine.com

2017 Willie Smith's Kingston Black, Tasmania $35

The Kingston Black apple is revered by cider makers for having just the right balance of rich perfume, fresh acidity and chewy tannin to make great cider. One sip of this and you'll understand what all the fuss is about: glorious golden colour, spicy flavour, lingering savoury finish. williesmiths.com.au

2011 Malus Mama, $200

Remember all the apples you've ever had in your life – from fresh, tart Granny Smith and caramelised tarte tatin to the teeth-sticking intensity of a toffee apple – and imagine them all happening on your tongue at the same time. That's what drinking Malus Mama is like. Imported by thespanishacquisition.com.