Stoutridge Distillery & Winery

Overview of the Distillery

Stoutridge combines a small winery and a small-scale distillery on a historic farm in Marlboro, Hudson Valley. The ownership has replanted vineyards and rebuilt the farmhouse, while preserving traditional techniques: the site conducts on-site floor malting and is notable for having a traditional Scottish malting floor. The production’s connection between wine and spirits, as well as a focus on local ingredients, makes the place interesting for the curious whisky enthusiast.

History

The estate’s history goes back to the mid-1800s and has shifted between fruit orchards, commercial winery, and farming throughout the 20th century. In the early 2000s, Steve Osborn and Kim Wagner purchased the abandoned property, replanted vineyards, and rebuilt the farm buildings. In 2006 they opened a tasting room for their natural wines, and in 2017 they expanded with a distillery, which built on the winery concept with on-site malting and a unique Scottish-style malting floor.

Raw materials and production

Stoutridge works grain-to-glass: barley is floor-malted in their own floor malting house, and some spirit types are distilled in pot stills with double pot distillation for selected products. The raw materials are sourced primarily from New York State, and the winery is built as a gravity-flow facility. The production is small-scale with a focus on craftsmanship and control of the entire process from field to bottle. For the wines, they use solar energy and a heat exchanger system as part of their sustainability profile.

Aging and barrel types

Aging takes place partly in traditional oak barrels and partly in an underground cellar, which provides a stable temperature for both wines and several spirits. An explicit example is the use of French oak in connection with a 'Bottled in Bond' eau-de-vie/brandy, where they also experiment with short aging in Agarwood (Oud). The underground cellar is also used for slow aging and experiments such as underground aging of absinthe.

Whiskies

The range covers natural wines and a wide variety of spirit types: vodka, gin, genever, mastic liqueurs, absinthe, brandy, bitters, special liqueurs and whiskies. The production is characterized by small-batch runs and experimental releases, where many ingredients are locally grown. A prominent single malt in their Quartarium line is Quartarium Root, which is based on distillation of floor-malted barley from their own malt house. 'Root' is the designation for their oldest single malt in the Quartarium series.

Visiting the Distillery

Stoutridge welcomes visitors to the tasting room, distillery and winery. The opening hours are Friday–Monday 11:00–18:00, while Tuesday–Thursday are by appointment only. Tastings of both wines and spirits are offered, and groups larger than eight people must reserve at least 24 hours in advance. The shop at the tasting room sells wines and spirits; shipping of spirits is limited to New York State.

The stated opening hours are Friday - Monday 11 AM - 6 PM; Tuesday - Thursday by appointment only. Groups over 8 should reserve at least 24 hours in advance.

Philosophy and Craft

The company practices a slow-to-table and natural wine philosophy, prioritizes land stewardship and sustainability, and consistently works with local ingredients. The main idea is to control the process from grain to bottle by performing malting, distillation, and many subsequent steps on site.

Sustainability

Land stewardship plan in connection with the rebuilding of vineyards. Solar energy and an innovative heat-exchanger system in the winery process. Underground cellar for temperature-controlled aging.