The Hudson Valley is America’s oldest wine making and grape-growing region.  Less than an hour and a half from New York City, a visit to to the Hudson Valley Wineries and wine trails offers hospitable winery tasting rooms, where you can often meet the owners and taste award-winning wines made from classic European varieties, regional hybrids and even delicious fruit wines. Beyond the Hudson Valley wineries and wine trails, the Hudson River Valley contains a wealth of natural beauty rich with hiking and biking trails, the most famous historic sites, and a culinary treasure of farms and restaurants.

(Source: HudsonValleyWineCountry.org)

While many argue that applejack distillation began in Sussex County, New Jersey, it quickly spread into New York through the Hudson Valley. The “great applejack-producing belt” ran between the Hudson River on the east and the Delaware River on the west. Applejack production centered around Orange County, but its reach extended to Westchester, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Columbia and Greene counties.

Well into the 19th century, primitive applejack distilleries could be found on almost every hillside within the apple belt. Local farmers became the principal distillers, turning the end product into an important and desirable commodity in the Hudson Valley. Apple cider and distilled apple brandy were considered common offshoots of orchard farming, and as popular as farm-fresh apple pie, apple- sauce, apple cobblers, and apple preserves.

Source: HVCiderGuide