Ingredients Interview Restaurant Road Trip Road Trip Distillery Hudson Valley Hudson Vermouth Brandy Cocktails New York Day Trip: Head Up to Klocke Estate in Hudson for Brandy, Vermouth, Craft Cocktails, + Seasonal, Local Fare Andrew Dominick November 25, 2025 View this post on Instagram A post shared by Klocke Estate (@klockeestate) Early in 2025, I started doing a ton of research on vermouth for an article in The Valley Table. You can read it HERE, but if you choose not to, no worries, it was general; what vermouth is, the guidelines for classifying vermouth in Europe versus the U.S., and who’s making it in the Hudson Valley. But if you do read it, there’s a cool, funny Winston Churchill bit in there. Just saying! One of the places that helped significantly with my vermouth knowledge was Klocke Estate in the Hudson-Claverack area where they make their own wine for vermouth, from their own grapes, that’s fortified with their own apple brandy, that’s made from apples grown on the grounds. The botanicals? Also grown right at Klocke Estate, well…with the exception of cinnamon. Not many distilleries around us specialize in vermouth and brandy like Klocke Estate does. If that’s your thing, this is the place.Pictured: Klocke’s Brevis Sweet Red in a spritz w/sherry, tea, and sparkling wine.Photos by Lauren Mozian + Andrew Dominick The bottom line is this…where else is there a vermouth distillery? And where else can you take a tour and get plenty of education on vermouth and apple brandy, plus, partake in a guided tasting, have great cocktails at one of the most stunning bars (and overall spaces) I’ve ever seen, and stay for a seasonal, locally sourced dinner? I left Klocke Estate in January thinking all of that. We don’t have this in Connecticut. And since my article dropped and friends in CT read that and saw my photos, they made the drive up to Klocke for a day trip and some spent the whole weekend up in Hudson where there’s a lot of eating, drinking, shopping, hiking, and more to get into. Ever since that piece came out, I thought I should share more about Klocke Estate with a Connecticut audience, so this is that. The SpiritsKlocke Estate’s flagships are their Un-Oaked Apple Brandy, Brevis White Vermouth, and Brevis Sweet Red Vermouth. They also sell batched bottles of three different cocktails called Flyback; a Claverack Old Fashioned (calvados, maple syrup, house made bitters), Brandy Manhattan (brandy, Brevis Sweet Red, bitters), and Appletini (Klocke Estate’s Apple Brandy, Brevis White Vermouth, Honeycrisp apple juice). Behind the distillation process is brandy distiller and estate manager, Caleb Gregg, who’s committed to regenerative farming, and learned the ropes growing up on his family’s farm. He was in the landscaping business after college when he met a friend of Klocke Estate’s founder and CEO John Frishkopf. They connected and the rest is history. “I manage the land, plus, all the winemaking, cider making, distilling, aging, and blending,” Gregg explains. “One hundred percent of what we do is on site. All the grapes. Some of the same wine we use for our brandy is the same wine we use for our vermouth. We make all the wine. They’re all our own macerations. From start to finish, we control the whole process, recipe development, everything. I mean, maybe the only thing we don’t grow that we use is like cinnamon.” Klocke’s aging room Even though Klocke opened just over a year ago, the groundwork for it started six years prior and they already have been working on expanding their spirits repertoire with some other eau di vies, aka, fruit brandies, in plum, sour cherry, and Traminette (a white hybrid grape that’s a cross between Joannes Seyve and Gewürztraminer), some featuring different fruits from trusted local farming partners that have high standards like Klocke does, plus a few others. “The aged apple brandy (Referent) should be out in early November,” Gregg says. “We have a new vermouth in production that we’re calling ‘Bittersweet,’ that’s a more cocktail-focused vermouth, more robust, and will hold up better in all your cocktails, similar to an amaro. We’re also working on an orange curacao, which I think makes more sense than vermouth because it’s brandy-based.” The Tour + Tasting (and Methods)Before I started working on the vermouth article for The Valley Table, I admittedly never went out and ordered a vermouth at a bar or restaurant. I’ve had my fair share of Manhattans, Brooklyns, Negronis, and Boulevardiers, but never just a glass of vermouth. Klocke’s founder, John Frishkopf, a vermouth enthusiast himself, told me that he hoped to change people’s mind about only having vermouth as a component in a cocktail, but to enjoy it like they do in France, Italy, or Spain, on the rocks or highlighted in a refreshing spritz. Tasting room manager, Michael Sharry, who’s a distiller in his own right (he was formerly the head distiller at Berkshire Mountain Distillers) gives a tour. If you make the journey up to the distillery, the tour and guided tasting is a great way to get some vermouth education and to sample Klocke’s vermouth and apple brandy.On the tour, right in front of Klocke’s copper Alembic Charentais still (parts of their still are over 75 years old), constructed by a still maker from Cognac, France, you’ll learn a bunch about what goes on in the distillery, in the chai (aka, barrel aging room), and on the farm. Klocke’s bar and dining room is well thought out, like every decorative detail, the dishware, glassware, furniture, all of it. Its interior design is courtesy of NYC-based architectural designer Ken Fulk. Your camera or cell phone will be busy snapping photos when you’re here. “Nothing is sprayed and we use no synthetic fertilizers,” says tasting room manager Michael Sharry. “We planted 26,000 grape vines and 11,000 apple trees for the purposes of making vermouth and apple brandy. The word ‘estate’ in our name is in reference to us, the producer, having control of this agriculture. In the grapes, we’re looking for a balance between sugar and acidity, where as a winery looks to pick at peak sweetness. We go earlier than a normal winery would. Picking underripe grapes leads to a much more flavorful spirit.”And as for the apples? All 43 varietals of them on the property? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Klocke Estate (@klockeestate) “Most of them are from the northern most region of France, plus, English and Spanish varieties and a handful of naturalized American varieties that we make brandy out of,” Sharry explains. “The goal here as compared to grapes, is we pick fully ripe fruits, bittersweet apples that are really tannic and dry. We tend to spit them out if we took a bite, and they’re called spitters, actually. They’re bittersharp. Think crabapples. If you mix the two types together, you get fantastic cider and brandy.”What Klocke is going for in both their vermouth and brandy is a pleasing aroma and deep flavor, and that all occurs by natural fermentation. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KEN FULK (@kenfulkinc) Before or after a tour, definitely crash the bar for a cocktail or three. “The grapes ferment a couple weeks to a month and the apples about 10 months,” Sharry says. “A long fermentation is to let the natural yeast that grows on the skins (of the fruit) do its thing. We don’t use any commercial yeast. This goes back to acid equaling flavor. We’re looking for bacterial fermentation to produce a really aromatic and flavorful product by letting the process happen naturally. And all our water is from wells on our property.”As of press time, Klocke offers four different tours and tasting experiences. Depending on what you’re looking for, they range from a 30-minute distillery tour with three tastes ($30) to a private, more in depth one that includes a four-course dinner with beverage pairings for $250/person. The Bar + RestaurantIf you’re staying a while and plan on a tasting and cocktails, you’ll need to eat. Or, honestly, people also come here specifically to eat. But this is what makes Klocke Estate a day trip kinda place. Go midafternoon, do a tasting, have a craft cocktail at their stunning bar with mountain views, then hop into the dining room for a full dinner, or if you go earlier (from noon – 5 p.m.) stay parked at the bar for an abbreviated menu of snacks between those hours. In January 2025, Chef Kempter’s menu featured a hearty osso buco pot pie with root vegetables. House-made focaccia with cultured butter and garlic confit Chocolate pot de crème with whipped espresso ganache, cacao nib shortbread Should you be dining, and depending when you visit, it’s hard to nail down exactly what you’ll encounter on executive chef Becky Kempter’s menu, but rest assured, it’s locally sourced, seasonal, and fresh. Klocke, we found out, is the middle Dutch word for “wall clock.” Go here and you’ll stop watching it, maybe completely losing track of time in the best way possible, and getting lost who you’re with. Get caught up in the sips, bites, the ambiance both inside and outside (especially at sunset), and first-class hospitality. 2554 County Rte 27, Hudson, NY518.672.1166, klocke-estate.comInstagram @klockeestate The views at golden hour are unbeatable. The sunset views are good, too.
