Adirondack Winery, one of New York’s first micro-wineries, is expanding its capacity and offerings with the construction of a 14,100 square-foot winemaking facility and tasting room. “We’re not so micro anymore,” says co-owner Sasha Pardy. The new space is being built at the winery headquarters, 395 Big Bay Road in Queensbury.
To mark the start of construction, the Winery held a groundbreaking ceremony this Thursday at the building site. As a construction crew worked in the background setting concrete forms, New York State Senator Dan Stec, State Assemblyman Matthew Simpson, Executive Director of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce Gina Mintzer and Warren County Board of Supervisors Chair Rachel Seeber offered congratulations and expressed their excitement over the project.
Sasha and Mike Pardy opened Adirondack Winery in 2008, producing wines in the backroom of a storefront on Canada Street in Lake George. The small space only allowed for a 15-seat tasting bar up front. “A few people told us it wouldn’t work,” says Sasha. “A micro-winery without a vineyard? Like, what a crazy idea! But, the thousands of visitors that Lake George draws each year falling in love with our wines proved them wrong.”
In 2011, the Pardys moved wine production to Queensbury and expanded the Lake George tasting room. In 2017, they opened a tasting room in Bolton Landing. They do a robust online business shipping their wines to 36 states. Adirondack Winery wines are also available in more than 450 liquor stores and restaurants.
“We’ve been bursting at the seams for a few years now, selling out of wine often because we haven’t had enough space to make enough wine to keep up with demand… This project is about to make that problem go away and allow us not only to make enough wine to keep up with current demand but also make way for future growth,” says Pardy.
The new facility will allow the winery to triple production over the next decade from its current volume of 17,000 cases to 50,000 cases, which will make Adirondack Winery among the largest wine producers in the state.
In addition to 8,500 square feet of winemaking space, the new building will have a two-story tasting room with large windows overlooking the wine production area. The tasting room will allow the winery to offer full glasses of wine along with craft beverages—beers, cider and spirits—from area producers. The winery also plans to offer specialty charcuterie boards heaped with locally produced artisan foods.
The new tasting room will host events already popular at their Lake George sites such as Uncork & Craft, and they will introduce wine knowledge classes.
A 2,600 square-foot event space within the building will be available for private parties, bus groups, meetings and conferences. A new 3,000 square foot outdoor green space will offer outdoor seating. Pardy says they plan to have the outdoor area furnished with Adirondack chairs and fire pits, games and music.
Adirondack Winery produces more than 35 fruit-infused and traditional wines made almost entirely with New York State grapes. The winery has garnered more than 200 metals at regional and national wine competitions. The target Grand Opening date for the new facility is April 2022.
Feature photo: Sasha and Mike Pardy (center) with Adirondack Winery employees break ground with ceremonial shovels to mark the start of construction on the Winery’s new facility.