Description

From land that has been cultivating apples since the late 1800s, Golden Harvest Farms was established on a 45 acre plot by Dan and Madeline Zinke in 1957. Four generations later, the farm has expanded to 250 acres and produces over a dozen apple varieties. The year-round Golden Harvest road stand is a Columbia County fixture, famous for its delicious apple cider donuts.
Nestled between the orchards and the road stand resides Harvest Spirits Distillery, New York State’s 1st Farm Distillery. The project began in 2005 with research and development, and Harvest Spirits was born. In 2007, we acquired a 400 liter copper still from Germany, and obtained our Federal license. The following year we gained our State license, and production began. Core Vodka, our first product, was released in May 2008, with Cornelius Applejack quick on its heels, taking the shelves in November 2009. Both spirits originate from apples grown at Golden Harvest, and are distilled and bottled on site.
As the years passed, we expanded our repertoire to include a variety of innovative products, using fresh fruit from our farm and neighboring growers to flavor each batch. Only the Pear Brandy and John Henry Malt Whiskey are not made with our own Golden Harvest apples. We now offer a Distiller’s Reserve of our Applejack brandy, aged 10+ years in oak barrels. And the rest… is history!