Empire State Cellars to Open Friday

Empire State Cellars, a new wine shop and tasting room, is set to open Friday morning in the Tanger Outlet Center. The store will be dedicated to wines from across New York State, and will try to introduce the Tanger's more casual audience to local wine and wine culture, said owner and Peconic Bay Winery general manager Jim Silver.

"What New York lacks is a certain unity in the way we market ourselves," . "I think this store is a small contribution, helping the way we market ourselves at least in the wine industry. The timing is good now for a New York wine store. A lot of people are turning toward local food, local products, local wine. Interest has never been higher."

The store, the second of Peconic Bay Winery's five allowed wine tasting rooms under their Farm Winery license, will have 400 different wines and spirits in stock, according to a story in the New York Cork Report. Silver told the Cork Report that hopes to expand to more than 600 soon.

"There are still dozens of wineries we want in the store but that haven't gotten back to us yet," Silver said. "But that said, we've got an absolutely astonishing selection from all over the state."

Empire State Cellars will be open in Tanger Outlet Center near the Food Court from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, and will offer tastings of several wines every day.