Food & Wine's feature "How One New York Estate Is Reviving America's Lost Brandy Tradition" centers on Klocke Estate, a distillery in Claverack, New York, in the Hudson Valley.
Klocke Estate, founded by John Frishkopf, represents a roughly $21 million investment and opened to the public in July 2024 after more than six years of preparation and construction.
The 160-acre property farms its own apples and botanicals on-site and produces brandy, vermouth, and eau de vie under one roof.
American brandy has a real shot at a second life, and Food & Wine just made the case in print, reported by Dennis Fraley, centering the argument on Klocke Estate in Claverack, New York.
The property represents an investment of roughly $21 million and opened to the public in July 2024. It spans 160 acres and includes a 12,000-square-foot distillery and hospitality venue. According to the pitch materials, the orchard grows 43 varieties of heritage apples on regenerative, biochar-enriched soil.
According to the source materials, the tasting room, designed by Ken Fulk, pours Klocke's own apple brandies alongside a library of more than 100 global brandies, Cognacs, Armagnacs, and Calvados.
Klocke Estate's bet is that American brandy needs a place, a process, and a story, not an imitation of bourbon's marketing playbook. Food & Wine's reporting suggests national food media is starting to take that argument seriously.
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