ALBANY – A bill sponsored inAlbany by area state lawmakers has been approved by the legislature and awaits action by Governor Cuomo and it would allow farm distilleries to expand their business by selling their product at farmers’ markets and county fairs. That is now allowed for state wineries and breweries.

Ralph Erenzo, a partner in the Hudson Valley farm distillery Tuthilltown Spirits in Gardiner said the bill would level the playing field.

“This allows them equal opportunity with wineries and brewers to go to state fairs, county fairs and green markets and do sampling and sales directly to consumers and it allows them to introduce their products and it allows the consumers to experience these new creations and actually speak to the people who are making them,” Erenzo said.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Kevin Cahill (D-Kingston) and Senator John Bonacic (R-Mount Hope), “makes simple financial sense” to members of the New York Farm Bureau, said its president, Dean Norton.