American Fruits Distillery -The First Hudson Valley Distillery's Apple Liqueur

American Fruits Distillery is a branch of Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery. In 2001 Warwick Valley Winery received a grant from the State of New York and imported a steam fired German Copper Still.  In 2002 they became the first licensed distillery in the Hudson Valley since prohibition.

They produce fruit brandies, liqueurs and distilled spirits that capture the true essence of the fruit and are reminiscent of the finest French and German fruit brandies. 



The process of producing American Fruits Apple Liqueur is the same method as port. Because of the similarities they tried to call it an Apple Port, but due to regulations, changed the name to Apple Liqueur.

The difference between producing a port and apple liqueur is they use apples and apple brandy instead of grapes and grape brandy.

The process, taking slightly fermented sweet Hudson Valley cider and blending it with their apple brandy.  It is then aged in once used bourbon barrels for one year and released to the public.

The type of apples that are used for the Apple Liqueur are Jonagold and it takes about 10 pounds of apples to make a bottle of the liqueur.

Tasting just like apples with a caramel bourbon finish this is a great aperitif and will go great with and enhance your apple pie!

Join the Hard Cider Revival - Cider Week Oct 12-21

Hard cider is making a statement and growing.  In the last year domestic sales of cider were up 23% to 5.7 million cases. The big boys have seen the craze and entered into the market.  Angry Orchard Cider is produced by Boston Beer (Sam Adams), Michelob is producing an Ultra Light Cider and MillerCoors owns Crispin Cider.  But nothing beats drinking a local hard cider in the fall hand crafted at a local winery.

The largest Cider producer in New York State is Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery.  They produce close to 50,000 cases of Doc's Draft ciders a year.  Their cider comes in a variety of flavors, the original Apple, Pear, Raspberry, Black Currant, Sour Cherry, Pumpkin and Spiced.

Applewood Winery in Warwick just launched their Naked Flock brand of ciders. Their original Stone Fence Cider has run away to join the Naked Flock as the Naked Flock Original. They have crafted a Pumpkin Cider made with fresh roasted pumpkins and his Draft which is fermented with Belgian Trappist Ale yeast and smoothed over with a touch of organic Maple Syrup.

Brand new to the Hudson Valley is Kettleborough Cider House located at Dressel Farms in Gardiner, NY. Launched in September, his cider is fermented dry and then cider is added to bring up the flavor.

New York City and the Hudson Valley we are celebrating Cider Week which takes place October 12-21, 2012.  Now is your chance to get out and taste and support local cider. A list of local hard cider producers can be found  at http://www.ciderweekny.com/cider-makers.

There is a slew of events taking place from cider tastings to pairings to dinners during the week.  A list of events can be found at http://ciderweekny.com/events

Go out and enjoy some local crafted Hard Cider!