World-Class Brandy Distillery Being Built in Columbia County
There is a six-million-dollar project being built in Columbia County that will bring a world-class brandy distillery to the area. The owners say the Claverack property is the perfect backdrop and the stunning views add to its desirability to build the eleven thousand square-foot Klocke Estate distillery and tasting room.
Approval from the town board for the project that will add twenty-five jobs and boost tourism from New York City residents what stalled because of the pandemic. But the owners knew that they were building in the right place. About two months into the pandemic they noticed that many residents of New York City came north to get away from the hustle and bustle plus they knew they could work remotely according to the Albany Business Review.
Klocke Estates which gets its name from the middle-Dutch settlers in that area and the time it takes to distill and create the brandy will sit on one hundred eighty-two acres. It was once an apple orchard. But now new crops have been planted including twenty-five acres of cider apples and fifteen acres of grapes. It will, however, take two years for the raw fruits to become brandy that is ready to drink.
The whole Klocke Estate experience will be a luxury brand much like what is found in vineyards in France and California. Even though you won't be able to sample the brandy for about a year while the tasting room is being completed, they will be selling other products that are brandy-based like other liquors.