DIS-SPIRITED: An avalanche of booze is dumped outside the warehouse of liquor distributor Fedway Associates in Kearny, NJ, yesterday. The company, the state’s exclusive distributor of many high-end spirits, said the storm surge had ruined its inventory. (Robert Miller)
There’s one group that Superstorm Sandy left dry — drinkers.
Floodwaters from the massive hurricane smashed a New Jersey liquor distributor, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage to its supply of top-shelf alcohol, the company said.
Yesterday, a sad mix of liquor and slush puddled on the ground outside Fedway Associates Inc.’s warehouse in Kearny — where the smell of red wine hung in the air as workers piled boxes and broken glass into an 8-foot-tall mountain.
The devastating deluge smashed bottles of pricy libations such as Grey Goose vodka and Cristal Champagne, leaving a river of booze pouring onto a pile of soggy cardboard.
“Hurricane Sandy dealt a near knockout blow to our south Kearny facility last week,” Fedway’s president, Neil Barnett, wrote on the company’s Facebook page.
“Our office building and warehouse buildings were hit with 10-foot tidal surges and, as a result, our infrastructure and inventories were severely compromised.”
The flood could leave countless Garden State drinkers crying in their glasses. Fedway is the state’s exclusive distributor of Cristal and other popular beverages, such as Svedka vodka, Bloomberg News reported.
In addition to smashing the bottles, the storm surge also crippled the company’s offices and delivery trucks.
Fedway said it hopes to be back in operation later this month after getting 100 delivery trucks and renting a 190,000-square-foot warehouse.
“We intend to begin shipping the week of November 19th and hope to be in full operation the first week in December,” Barnett wrote.
The company has been working around the clock to clean up the mess and get the high-end hooch flowing once more, he said.
“Drivers, warehouseman, salespeople, clerical workers, supervisors and managers have been working side by side, 24 hours per day since Friday,” Barnett wrote.
“We have contracted a 190,000-square-foot warehouse 200 yards from our main building and have already begun receiving replacement inventory.”
There’s good news for New York’s discerning drinkers — the destruction was unlikely to have much of an effect here.
Fedway does not distribute in the city, said Andrew Rigie, the executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance.
But Jersey liquor stores are likely to face a drought of many popular brands.
Fedway is the sole supplier of Grey Goose, the imported French vodka, said Sasha Vaynerchuk, 59, the owner of Wine Library in Springfield, where a 750-milliliter bottle of the top-shelf booze sells for $35.
“If somebody drinks Grey Goose, you can’t replace with Smirnoff or Ketel One,” Vaynerchuk said, adding that wine drinkers are more willing to buy other brands if a store doesn’t stock their favorite. “The customer has much more loyalty to spirits.”
Kenneth Friedman, owner of the liquor-store chain Bottle King, which has 15 shops in New Jersey, said the disruption was “a headache for everybody.”
“We’ll be out by the weekend,” Friedman said.
Don Carter, owner of the Wine Seller in Ridgewood, said he was out of Grey Goose and had only “a few cases” of Svedka.
New Jersey law blocks alcohol retailers from buying supplies from out-of-state distributors, but Gov. Chris Christie said he would consider lifting that restriction.
“If, in fact, that company came and asked me to consider that, I would consider it,” he said. “But to the best of my knowledge, they have not come and asked for any waiver or relaxation of that regulation.”
Barnett did not respond to calls for comment.