Adirondack Winery took a big step in growth on June 1 when it launched its portfolio of wines with Opici Family Distributing, as part of a major effort to have Adirondack Winery wines sold at wine and liquor stores, as well as restaurants, hotels and bars across New York state, according to its owners.
Founded in 2008 by Michael and Sasha Pardy, Adirondack Winery in Lake George started a wine-making operation in about 800 square feet of space in the back of its tasting room store front in at 285 Canada St. In the first year, the Pardy’s produced about 1,000 cases of wine, they said.
By 2011, demand had outgrown its wine-making capacity and space, so the Pardys moved their wine-making operation to a warehouse facility in Queensbury, while at the same time renovating and expanding the tasting room.
Now entering their seventh summer season, the Pardys said they expect to produce at least 7,000 cases of wine this year.
“Due to our Lake George location, a major percentage of our customer
base is comprised of tourists, which means that we only see these
customers once per year, sometimes less,” said Sasha Pardy. “Last year
we hired an events manager, who has been setting up booths for us at
wine festivals across New York where we sample and sell our wines. So
again, we see most of those customers only once per year.
“For these reasons, it is essential that our wines are widely available at wine and liquor stores across New York so that customers that fall in love with our wines at our tasting room or at a festival have easy access to our wines throughout the year.”
Two years ago, Adirondack Winery’s wines were available at about 40 liquor stores, primarily in the Capital Region, the owners said. Today, Adirondack Winery wines are sold at more than 100 stores across New York state.
The winery has self-distributed its wines via shipping, self-delivery and delivery service, DNT Express.
“We decided to partner with Opici Family Distributing because we know the demand for our wines in the wholesale marketplace is more than we can handle with our own staff,” said Michel Pardy. “Opici has an excellent reputation with liquor store owners, particularly for having the best selection of New York wines, so we feel very comfortable in their ability to represent our brand.”
Mike Proch, vice president of sales for Opici’s Upstate New York market said the company “is excited to have Adirondack Winery join our diverse portfolio of wines. They have developed a strong Adirondack brand that has statewide appeal and we see great potential for the brand to grow fast across Upstate New York.”
Adirondack Winery will first concentrate on growth in Upstate New York and in the fall will consider growth into the Metro New York City market, they said.
“Distribution is the critical next step we had to take as a company to produce continued growth. If our brand grows under Opici as we project it will, I am sure Adirondack Winery will be adding more employees and need to expand its wine making operations in the near future,” said Michael Pardy.
Adirondack Winery employs seven full-time and 12 part-time employees at peak season.
Opici Wines is an importer and producer with a portfolio of over 50 brands from the United States, Italy, Spain, France, Chile, Argentina, and Hungary. The portfolio is distributed nationally in 45 states.