Newcastle Mandarin Ranch, popular for its shakes, named best tasting at festival

Kaitlin Aberle was doing what she normally does during the annual Mountain Mandarin Festival – "I was smack in the middle of making milkshakes," she said Friday afternoon – when an employee on lunch break came running toward the Newcastle Mandarin Ranch booth yelling, "WE JUST WON!" "I was like, WHAT?!" Aberle recalled enthusiastically. "We all freaked out in the booth because it was our first official (win). We always come in second or third it seems like. We went all crazy." Yes, Newcastle Mandarin Ranch indeed captured the best mandarin contest and coveted trophy, topping a field of 10 growers on day one of the three-day weekend festival at the Gold Country Fairgrounds. Aberle is a daughter to owners Duane and Lynn Lewis, who began planting in 1998 and opened "on the side of the road" around 2000 before opening at their Newcastle ranch around 2004, according to Aberle. Married last year, Aberle and husband Jason are now officially in charge of the business, she said. Her dad wasn't at the fairgrounds for the festival; he was "running around making loads" at the family's Auburn shed off Interstate 80 and Bell Road at the time. But Aberle's grandmother, who owns Magnolia Hill, and an uncle and past best mandarin winner who owns Sunset Ridge were there, "part of the whole Lewis clan," she said. Aberle couldn't confirm that the annual winner's booth is instantly swamped with people following the announcement. "I'd say we're pretty popular regardless because people trust us and they love our ranch," she said. "I can't say because we won first place our booth was surrounded; our booth is always surrounded." One reason? The mandarin milkshakes. The recipe is no secret: It's a 50/50 blend of vanilla ice cream and mandarin juice. "That's literally what we threw together," Aberle said with a laugh. "We don't add ice, nothing. Everyone comes and says to our booth, 'This is the reason why we come is for mandarin milkshakes.' " She said people compare the shakes to a 50/50 bar or an Orange Julius. Interestingly, mandarin shakes aren't common. Aberle said one vendor from out of town tried one year, "and failed, just to say in the kindest way," she said, giggling again. "We have been so blessed every year," she said. "We're in the same spot. People that love this community love to support local growers and they love to come out and be outside." Aberle said her family puts its trust in "the Lord. We trust the Lord. He provides for us and gives us everything we need, and we just love Jesus. A lot of people ask why is our fruit sweeter than some? We get the morning sunshine, so we feel like that's the Lord shining down on us. And the sunshine makes it sweet."