UAlbany Magazine

Sonya del Peral, B.A.’80

Growing a Business – and New York Agriculture

By Carol Olechowski

 Mark McCarty

Student. Linguist. Archeologist. Teacher. Lawyer. Mom. Throughout her life, Sonya del Peral has embraced many roles. In 2013, she took on two more: cider maker and promoter of New York State agriculture.

Several years ago, after developing a liking for hard cider, del Peral’s son, Alejandro, experimented with different blends and eventually perfected his own. Catskill Thunder earned a gold medal at the 2013 Great Lakes International Cider & Perry Competition, and soon, Nine Pin Ciderworks was established in Albany. The company’s name was inspired by Washington Irving’s legend of Catskill Mountains cider aficionado – and marathon napper – Rip Van Winkle.

Del Peral was flattered when her son asked her to join Nine Pin as in-house legal counsel. “I feel so lucky that the creative and enthusiastic young people here wanted me involved,” says the attorney, who practices intellectual-property, business-transaction, and real-estate law from her office at Bowers & del Peral, PLLC, in Chatham, N.Y. “The alcohol industry is very heavily regulated, so I was able to bring some know-how and skills because of my background.”

Del Peral cites both “hard work and good luck” as factors in Nine Pin’s success. “We were very lucky to receive New York State’s first farm-cidery license. We were able to get a lot of publicity that we otherwise could not have.” In addition, “a grant from Empire State Development in 2015 helped us expand our facilities.”

Located at 929 Broadway in Albany, Nine Pin Ciderworks is a year-round operation that includes a tasting room, as well as a seasonally open outdoor café. “We do a lot of production in the fall, but there are things to do all year long,” notes del Peral, the cidery’s manager.

Nine Pin purchases apples from several Capital Region orchards: “Adding value to local agriculture is our mission,” del Peral observes. “New York is No. 1 in the U.S. for apple varieties. We promote New York agriculture through the use of local apples.”

Nine Pin’s operations are based in its facility in Albany’s Warehouse District. “We have a variety of bottled and canned ciders that are sold all over New York State and in Massachusetts and Connecticut. We’re taking it one step at a time. Our license has a cap at 250,000 gallons, so we have lots of room to grow,” says del Peral, who plans to retire from her private law practice next September but will continue to use her legal expertise in alcohol-industry licensing for Nine Pin.

To prepare for Nine Pin’s launch, del Peral spent time on UAlbany’s uptown campus researching the cider industry, “so I appreciate the services that the University Libraries provide.” She also worked with the Small Business Development Center.

As an undergraduate anthropology major at Albany, del Peral visited Guatemala to participate in two archaeological digs organized by Professor Robert Carmack. She recalls: “We were uncovering a post-Classic Mayan city. It was amazing to visit the National Archives of Guatemala, to touch history by reading the primary source materials – the writings of the Spanish conquistadores and the priests – and to witness this meeting of the Old World and the New.”

Faculty member Colbert Nepaulsingh “was my favorite professor,” remembers del Peral, who minored in Spanish. “He taught an entire course, Don Quixote de la Mancha, on Cervantes’ book.”

Del Peral herself taught for several years after graduating summa cum laude from Albany. She returned to Guatemala to teach at the American School, then, having taken “enough courses” at the University to become fluent in French, she traveled to France, where she taught English. Back home, del Peral earned a master’s in teaching from SUNY Binghamton. She continued her career, teaching Spanish in the Bethlehem (N.Y.) Central School District prior to earning a law degree from Albany Law School.

To learn more about Nine Pin Ciderworks, visit www.ninepincider.com.