Take a Video Tour of Our Queensbury Headquarters and Meet Our Associate Winemaker Brad!
Meet the Team & Tour Our Queensbury Winemaking Facility
One of the most common questions we get is if we do tours of our Queensbury Winemaking Facility. Not yet, but we have the next best thing; a video tour with our Associate Winemaking Brad Casacci, who has offered to walk our customers through our headquarters and winemaking facility, and teach us all a little bit about the art of making wine.
Watch the video above, and even learn a little bit about Brad and has passion for winemaking in the FAQ below.
1) What does ADK Winery mean to you?
It’s fun working for a small company that takes pride in being local. Our staff is highly talented with a strong passion for our brand which makes it fun to come to work everyday. I like that we produce wines that can be enjoyed now and for any occasion (who really wants to buy a wine to only have to store it away for 7 years before you can drink it?).
2) Which is your favorite ADK Winery wine?
Dry Riesling. New York produces some truly world class Rieslings and while most people think of Riesling as a sweet wine, the Dry version of Riesling is crisp and clean. Our 2018 vintage of Dry Riesling is well balanced but I’m really excited for the 2019 vintage to be released. It’s our best one yet!
3) Tell us an interesting fact about winemaking!
Red wines are fermented in wide vessels as the grape juice separates from the grape skins. During fermentation the grape skins weigh less than the juice and need to be pushed or “punched” down 3 times a day to re-incorporate the skins into the juice so that color and tannins can be extracted from the skins. You’ll notice New York Red Wines typically are lighter in color than California Red Wines and that is due our climate; we have less days of sun and lower temperatures than California.
4) What's a memorable story you have about working at the winery?
One of the first years I was working here, I was trying to disconnect a hose off a freshly filtered tank of Soaring Strawberry. Not fully paying attention, I accidently disconnected the valve that holds the wine in the tank. Wine began to fly out of the tank as I scrambled to put the valve back on the tank, getting showered with wine while doing so. Luckily it was a smaller tank, had it have been a 1,000 or 2,000 gallon tank like we typically use today, we probably would have lost the whole batch of Soaring Strawberry.
5) Do you have a message for ADK Winery customers?
I’m very appreciative of the support our customers have always given us, especially right now. I started my wine making career at Adirondack Winery and have seen it grow into the premier winery in the region. I’m thankful I get to do a job I love because of customers like ours.