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Business Journals
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Journals
Events? Gifting? Look to the artistry of the Hudson Valley
If you've grown tired of corporate gifting and events that feel bland and uninspired, a new option rooted in artistry, passion, and the breathtaking beauty of the Hudson Valley has arrived. Klocke Estate, perched high atop a hill with stunning 360-degree mountain views, offers an earth-to-glass experience unlike any other. This is more than a destination; it's a journey into the world of artisan brandies, vermouths, and ready-to-drink cocktails, all meticulously crafted and presented in elegant, artfully designed bottles. Imagine rewarding your team with a truly memorable and unique experience. Klocke Estate makes that vision a reality, combining its world-class distillery, restaurant, and bar into a single, cohesive destination. The Estate: An Experience, Not Just an Event Klocke Estate founder John Frishkopf set out on an ambitious mission: to merge the time-honored methodologies of French Cognac and Calvados with the distinct terroir of the Hudson Valley, creating a truly unique American brandy. To showcase this artistry, Frishkopf built an entire estate. Every step of the process—from cultivating apples and grapes to winemaking and distillation—unfolds right on the property. The result is a seamless journey where agriculture, innovation, and craft intersect. This immersive experience is now available for corporate events, team-building sessions, or private gatherings. Just an hour from Albany, you and your guests can explore the very heart of the estate, where every detail tells a story. The Spaces and Experiences expand The Restaurant & Bar: Step into an elegant space designed by legendary designer Ken Fulk. Chef Becky Kempter's menu delivers a distinctive country French flair, using locally grown, farm-to-table ingredients. The bar staff complements this with inventive cocktails, each one based on Klocke Estate's exceptional brandies and vermouths. expand The Second-Floor Club/Salon: For a private event with a view, ascend to the salon. This flexible space can be transformed to host anything from a board meeting to a cocktail party to private dining, all while offering spectacular vistas of the Catskills. expand The Distillery: Part steampunk, part Willy Wonka's factory, the distillery is where the magic happens. Here, the distilling team coaxes exquisite spirits from imported Charentaise and Mueller-Pot stills, blending science and a touch of alchemy. expand The Orchards & Vineyards: The sixty acres surrounding the estate are a testament to the founder's vision. They are home to specific apple and grape varieties chosen for their ability to thrive in the local soil and produce exceptional brandy and vermouth. expand The Chai: Modeled after traditional Cognac designs, the "chai"—French for barrel warehouse—is where the brandy ages to perfection. Its post-and-beam construction and thick, straw-insulated walls create the ideal environment for the spirits to mature. The Spirits: Artistry Inside and Out expand Klocke Estate's spirits are the culmination of this dedication to craft. Each bottle is not only filled with a delicious, complex elixir but is also a work of art, making it the perfect gift for clients or employees. Brevis Red & White Vermouths: These aren't your typical vermouths. Designed to be sipped on their own, much like in Barcelona or Madrid, these fortified wines are infused with botanicals for a refreshing and intriguing flavor profile. Flyback Ready-to-Drink Cocktails: Precision and craft in an instant. The Appletini, Brandy Manhattan, and Old-Fashioned embody Klocke Estate's commitment to quality in a convenient, ready-to-go format. Klocke Estate '00' Unoaked Apply Brandy: This limited-edition, first release showcases a fresh, youthful character with bright apple tones. It's twice-distilled in an Alembic Charentaise still, a true expression of the estate's unique terroir. What kind of event or gifting needs are you looking to fulfill? We can help you create a custom package that's truly unforgettable.
Eater
09-06-2025
- Business
- Eater
Brandy From New York? This Upstate Distillery Is Counting on It.
Since the brandy distillery Klocke Estate opened last summer in Claverack, New York, the restaurant has been the draw. It's dazzling, situated on a hilltop above 160 acres of farmland, orchards, and vineyards. The seasonal American menu from chef Becky Kempter shows off leek croquettes, a spring cavatelli with ramps, asparagus, peas, and mains like roast chicken or lamb shank. Klocke deserves its spot among the handful of mid-Hudson Valley restaurants that are destinations. Of those, it's undoubtedly the most luxurious. In the dining room, chandeliers and floor-to-ceiling windows cast soft light over myriad textures: crushed velvet and William Morris-style floral designs on the walls, a marble fireplace with a Victorian tapestry hanging above, and exposed wood beams. Tables are situated around a custom glass cabinet in the middle of the room which displays co-owner John Frishkopf's library of brandies, Armagnacs, and Calvados. It's a lush setting to observe the sage-colored Catskills in the distance. Still, the restaurant, Frishkopf says, primarily serves to 'set the table for our brandy.' At the moment, brandy isn't flying off the shelves in the U.S, but Frishkop and his husband, Brett Mattingly, are playing a long game to establish regional brandy's preeminence. It already has provenance: Laird's Applejack in New Jersey, founded in 1780, is the very first distillery in the United States (It's also one of the few legacy brands today run by a woman.) And there's evidence that a man named Jakob Planck brought several stills from Holland to the northern Hudson Valley, around the time brandy was first being exported from Europe by Dutch fleets, in 1638. The state of brandy in the U.S. doesn't daunt the founders. 'Eventually, the brandy we make here in Claverack,' says Caleb Gregg, director of farming and production, 'will sit beside the world's great brandies, specifically Cognac caliber.' Frishkopf, a Boston native, was first inspired to make brandy on the plum and apricot orchards of friends' estates while based in Prague early in his finance career. Returning to the Northeast in his 60s, he wanted to make brandy commercially. The region is one of a few places, he says, where conditions for growing cider apples and grapes were always ideal— for brandy, not for wine. Brandy grapes are harvested earlier than wine grapes, when they have a sugar content (or brix) between 16 and 18 percent. That relatively low sugar produces an alcohol content between eight and ten percent after fermentation, ensuring it will be below 60 percent after distillation. Additionally, lower sugar levels result in higher tannin and acid content, according to Gregg, providing the necessary structure for brandy's prolonged aging process. In 2017, Frishkopf and Mattingly purchased the property. With the help of veteran distiller Dan Farber in California, Cornell University, and expert wine and apple farmers around New York State, they selected 43 varieties of organic cider apples and nine organic white grapes, all suited to the climate and terroir of the Hudson Valley. Mattingly, an MIT grad, raised on a family farm, designed a master plan for planting using a permaculture approach that weaves sustainability and self-sufficiency into the design. In 2020, the team planted the first trees and vines. Despite that most apple growing in the East has moved south due to risks like fireblight, the team remains committed to organic farming — with an eye to bring back cider apples that used to grow in the region for hundreds of years — with the help of old and new technology. They monitor digital wind, temperature, and sun on large flat screens. They implant organic bacteria cultures to battle fireblight, powdery and downy mildew, and other bacterial infections. They position black locusts posts where eagles and red-tailed hawks can sit and hunt larger pests, like voles. As of this writing, four successful grape and apple harvests have been pressed and fermented into wine and cider, and distilled in a copper Alembic Charentais still imported from Cognac. Right after distillation, the spirits are transferred to barrels made from aged French oak, where they will mature for another three to thirty years, depending on the batch. 'It takes patience,' according to Gregg. '...and we may find out, in 25 years, that the grapes we're growing are better suited for younger brandies, for example. That's the fun part.' Consumers might not try the estate's best brandies for decades. Perhaps they'll keep improving long after Frishkopf and Mattingly retire. With hope, they've invested in infrastructure that will outlast them — including the storage facility, the still, and above all, people like Gregg, who, in his late 20s, manages all aspects of brandy production. While customers wait for the first batch of brandy, Frishkopf sees his role as a teacher and host. In addition to the brandy library, they're also producing ready-to-drink vermouth. Klocke currently sells their white vermouth and sweet red vermouths under the Brevis label, three cocktails—an appletini, a brandy manhattan, and a brandy old-fashioned—three eau de vies, and what they call an unoaked brandy, or the Klocke Estate 00. Frishkopf says that their customers will be able to taste the evolution of their brandy over the years, which reinforces the time theme as the through line of the brand. Frishkopf points to the Dutch word for clock as inspiration for the name; the vermouth label Brevis, named after the Latin word for brief; and the ready-made cocktail label, Flyback, named after the term for when a chronograph returns to zero. During dinner service at Klocke, diners often catch magnificent sunsets. It quickly became a tradition for everyone to emerge onto the west-facing patio with their drinks for twenty minutes to stare toward the mountains where Rip Van Winkle mythically fell asleep for twenty years, across land that has fallen in and out of cultivation for generations. Often, the waitstaff and cooks join them, signaling there's no need to rush. Sign up for our newsletter.
