Market Watch, January 2020

JANUARY FEBRUARY 2020 MARKETWATCHMAG COM MARKET WATCH 35PHOTO BY TOP ANDRIA LOexperience in making grappa his Riesling grappa retails for 28 a 375 ml has aided him in grape brandy production In Alameda California St George Spirits concentrates on unaged pear brandy With our American pear brandies were taking a snapshot of the way a perfect piece of fruit smells and tastes right when its at the peak of its ripeness says master distiller Lance Winters St Georges flagship Pear brandy retails at 40 a 750 ml as does its Raspberry brandy while its higher end California Reserve Apple brandy is 60 Right now our distillery smells like 40000 pounds of ripe Barlett pears and thats what we want every glass of our pear brandy to smell like Winters says Neversink Spirits Distillery in Port Chester New York has a similar approach but with a hyper focus on apples sourced exclusively from New York Yoni Rabino who co founded the distillery with partner Noah Braun stein in 2015 calls Neversink Apple brandy 55 an encapsu lation of our values and a reflection of New York states apples Clark County Indianas Starlight Distillery launched in 2014 and is helmed by co owner and master distiller Ted Huber who is also head winemaker at Huber Winery established in 1843 with a team that includes his son Christian also a wine maker and distiller The Hubers farm their own fruit and their winemaking experience helps guide brandy production Our brandy style is uniquely us says Ted Were not trying to copy anybody were trying to show the place the soil and the terroir The farm to table aspect is something that defines us Starlight Pear brandy retails for 100 a 750 ml and the distill erys other brandy offerings include the Private Reserve 60 Apple brandy 60 Peach brandy 60 AppleJack brandy 30 and Bottled in Bond Apple brandy 50 Distilleries are seeking to differentiate themselves as compe tition grows in the craft spirits sphere Theres no question that its becoming more competitive but we have some unique advantages in that we have a lot of direct business with around 35000 people visiting every year and purchasing bottles says McKenzie of Finger Lakes Other craft distilleries also cite a solid portion of sales coming from tourism Most producers welcome the uptick in new players seeing it as an indication that the category is prospering Its import ant for distilleries to stand out from one another but its also important for us all to appreciate the ecosystem of what were doing and get the word out about American brandy says Rabino of Neversink Overall were really working together to get customers interested in better spirits Heron of Copper King adds that theres enough activity to start floating the boats the waters are rising and everybodys floating alongside each other and its actually quite fraternal AMERICAN BRANDY CONSUMPTIONIN THE U S 2004 2019E millions of 9 liter case depletions Calendar Years Includes flavorsSource IMPACT DATABANK 2020 650675700725750775800825 19E 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04The American brandy category is still ruled by big brands like Korbel bottle line above but craft distilleries like California based St George Spirits master distiller Lance Winters and head distiller and blender Dave Smith top are adding excitement