While we’re working our way through the Maine Beer Trail, one of my bucket list items for this year, we don’t have a lot of experience with Maine’s wine scene. I have been to Cellardoor Winery in Lincolnville, and since they opened their tasting room at Thompson’s Point, I have gone to a few of their wine pairings. So far, that is the only winery I have been to in Maine. We do plan to tackle the Maine Wine Trail eventually, but as I said in my bucket list post, it’s probably best to attempt only one alcohol related “trail” a year.
In researching Maine wineries, I learned that there are:
(a) far more than I realized; and
(b) most of them make a version of blueberry wine.
We bought three bottles of local blueberry wines so that we could have a mini-wine tasting and compare flavors. For our wine tasting, we opted to try the following wines (all descriptions are from the winery’s websites):
Younity Winery & Wineyards | Maine’s House Wine
“Ours is semi-dry fruity… but not too fruity and has a nice amount of alcohol. This IS NOT a blend with grape but 100% Blueberry from our supplier in Stockton Springs.”
Winterport Winery | Blueberry Table Wine
Silver Medal : Best of New England Wine Competition
“Very fruit forward with smooth mid-palate structure and a nice dry finish. Merlot like.”
Cellardoor Winery | Treasure
Silver Medal : Best of New England Wine Competition
“This maple syrup- and brandy-infused wine offers bright and warm aromas of ripe blueberries, with sweet and tart notes on the palate and a warm, lingering finish.”
We spent a fun Friday evening making appetizers and sampling our blueberry wines. I never drink red wine so it was a fun, new experience. The Younity Maine House Wine was much sweeter than the other two selections so probably not the right style for our pairing. The Winterport and Cellardoor wines were dryer with more complex flavors. They were both excellent. The consensus in our small group of three was that Cellardoor was the most interesting one and my husband especially loved the maple syrup blended with the blueberries.
My daughter was actually a fourth participant but instead of wine, she got to enjoy a blueberry smoothie topped off with Northwoods Gourmet Girl’s blueberry dessert sauce. The smoothie recipe was from another Maine blogger. Her site Sinful Nutrition had a recipe for a Wild Blueberry Lemon Basil Smoothie. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find fresh basil (off-season), but we followed the rest of the recipe and it was delicious.
While we choose just a few to sample for our improvised wine tasting, the majority of Maine’s wineries do carry a blueberry wine. Below is a list of the other blueberry wines I discovered while researching this blog post. Again, descriptions of the wines are from each individual winery website and are included if available.
Anthony Lee’s Winery – Maine Blueberry Wine
Bar Harbor Cellars – Blueberry
“Our blueberry wine is made from 100% blueberries; no other fruit is added. The use of the whole berry results in a rich blueberry aroma, with strong cinnamon notes reminiscent of blueberry pie. Our top seller!!!”
Bartlett Maine Estate Winery – Blueberry Reds
“Our noted Blueberry Reds will make even the most dedicated Cabernet fan sit up and take notice. With notes that range from rich and fruity to delightfully zesty, our reds have low acidity and marry well with almost any meat or pasta dish. Redolent of the rocky coastline and wooded hills where our blueberries grow, you’ll be sure to savor a small taste of Maine in each bottle.”
Breakwater Vineyards – Breakwater Blues
“Dry. Aromas of blueberry cobbler. Nice balance of oak. Finishes with firm, grippy tannins. Made from hand-raked Maine blueberries – of course! “
Catherine Hill Winery – Cherryfield Blues
“Our original berry wine is wonderfully sweet with intense flavor, made with 100% Maine Wild Blueberries harvested right here in Washington County, the wild blueberry capital of the world. Great with pizza, burgers, good times and best friends. Serve lightly chilled.”
Dragonfly Farm & Winery – Blueberry Bliss
“Blueberry Bliss is made from Maine Blueberries. It is a sweet dessert wine, that is best served cold!”
Hidden Spring Winery – Blueberry
Savage Oakes Vineyard and Winery – 100% Maine grown wild blueberries
Blue Moon
“Dry . Our own Estate grown Maine wild blueberries aged in oak. Medium bodied with hints of spicy blueberry in the finish. Would age nicely to enjoy for years to come.”
Blueberry Pi
“A dessert wine made from our own hand raked, Wild Blueberries. Like the juices of a fresh blueberry pie this wine is loaded with sweet blueberry flavor.”
Shalom Organic Orchard Farm & Winery – Blueberry Wine
“A long cold fermentation retains rich blueberry flavor and healthful anti-oxidants. Compares to a full-bodied red wine, and pairs with meat & bean dishes.”
Sow’s Ear Winery – Blueberry Wine
Sweetgrass Farm Winery and Distillery – They had multiple options listed on their website. They get my vote for most creative use of blueberries in their product line.
Blueberry Bitters
“Made with wild Maine blueberry wine and our blend of bitter botanicals.”
Blueberry Cabernet Sauvignon
“East meets West in this sumptuous blend of French oak barrel aged wild Maine blueberry wine and California Cabernet Sauvignon wine. A full-bodied red wine with dark fruit flavors and savory tastes like black pepper.”
Blueberry
“Bold but dry, French oak barrel aged wild Maine blueberry wine with deep blueberry aromas and flavors with a hint of smoke.”
Bleujolais
“Vibrant young blueberry wine with hints of chocolate and bramble fruits.”
Blueberry Smash
“Robust flavors of berries and roasted currants. A true tawny aged 3 years in French oak barrels.”
Two Hogs Winery – Blueberry Wine
“Made from 100% native Maine blueberries. This medium dry wine is best experienced at room temperature. Compliment this wine with your choice of cheese, red meat and pasta.”
It is amazing to discover there is a robust and vibrant wine industry in Maine that I knew relatively little about before this post. It is one that I will be exploring more in the future.
Do you have a unique local wine that you enjoy? Do you like fruit wines? Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe?
| things to know | |
|---|---|
| Name | Younity Winery & Vineyards, Inc. |
| Location | 317 Albion Road Unity, Maine 04988 |
| Phone | (207) 948-7777 |
| Website | Younity Winery & Vineyard |
| Favorite ♥ | Blueberries |
Weekends in Maine 
I tried ice wine in Vermont. It was very sweet. Blueberry wine sounds interesting, especially if it isn’t too sweet.
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I prefer my wines dry too although sweet works with certain food combinations. I suspect from our small little tasting that there are probably a variety of sweetness levels in the blueberry wines produced here but there are definitely some dryer options. Two of the ones we tasted were dry.
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Sounds delicious! And fun!
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It was a fun night and great to try something new.
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We have many good wineries all over the state including one owned by Madonna’s father. I prefer dry whites and we have some good semi-dry Rieslings.
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Dry whites are my favorite too. The Cellardoor Treasure was actually one of the first “reds” that I liked.
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I LOVE wine and especially enjoy a good wine-and-cheese pairing on Friday night 🙂
I’ve never had blueberry wine before. One day (I hope) when we revisit Maine, I will have to indulge.
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It was fun to put together a wine tasting with some yummy snacks including brie cheese. It was definitely a great way to spend a Friday night.
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Sounds (and looks) like a fun sampling party. I’ve never had blueberry wine although now of course I want to change that. I have a friend in Maine so perhaps I’ll ask her to send me a bottle of her favorite for my birthday. And that will give her a chance to have her own sampling party so she can choose. Sounds win-win doesn’t it? 🙂
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There are certainly plenty of blueberry wine options to choose from in Maine so your friend will have fun picking one out.
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You had me at wine.
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That’s pretty much all I need too 🙂
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🙂
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I am not a big wine person and I would love for people to keep their fruit out of my beer and whiskey… But I love blueberries, and also blueberry syrup on the few occasions when I have pancakes (but I have to admit, I like maple syrup better).
http://sagecoveredhills.blogspot.com/2017/04/y-is-for-yellow-dwarf.html
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I am actually a fan of fruit in my beer but I get where it might not be everyone’s thing. There are a few places out this way that do some great blueberry beers. Even if you don’t like fruit in your beer or whiskey, if you like blueberries and maple syrup, you’d still do well in Maine.
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Whoa, now I am a wine person, but I’m limited due to prescriptions I take. mmmm Blueberry wine sounds delicious. I’m gonna have to try me some of that really soon. I usually drink moscato and that was here recently I switched to that because I use to drink zinfandel. I don’t know… go figure, but what I do know is I don’t drink hard liquor. Yep, I’m a wino! ~hehehe~ Have a great weekend.
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Wine is my preferred beverage too although craft beer is growing on me too.
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In Hawaii, we have pineapple wine, though a friend who is a wine expert, doesn’t think much of it. But I have other friends who like it. I tried making mango wine once, what a disaster! The wild blueberry basil smoothie looks tempting. https:// Maui Jungalow
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The smoothie was really good too! Pineapple wine sounds interesting. I’d like to try it. I think it’s like everything else. I’m sure there are some good ones and some bad ones.
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Ooooo – would love some blueberry wine.
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There are lots to choose from in Maine .
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Visiting (better late than never) from A to Z. I live an hour from New York State wine country (Finger Lakes) so reading about blueberry wines intrigues me. I appreciate a wine that is made from the fruit and not just uses the fruit to flavor grape wine. I think I would definitely try a number of these. I haven’t been to Maine since 2011 and would love to return one day.
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It’s never too late for a visit! I’m going to be trying to check out more of the bloggers from the challenge over the next few months too.
I hope you are able to get back to Maine someday so you can try some of our blueberry wines. We have a lot of options!
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I once tried blueberry wine in South Carolina. It was good but sweet.
I like the sound of your daughter’s blueberry smoothie. 🙂 It’s the right time of year for yummy fruity drinks. Thanks for including the recipe. 🙂
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I think that is the danger that they can be too sweet. I prefer dryer wines myself so I was happy to find that a few that we tasted were actually more dry and not overly sweet. The blueberry smoothie was delicious!
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I do like blueberries–a lot. Stands to reason that I might like one of these wines.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
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You should give them a try. There are so many options I’m sure you can find one that you would like.
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