Perhaps the best known Maine vineyard is the Bartlett Maine Estate Winery in Downeast Maine, which has been making fruit wines since 1983 and whose Winemaker's Reserve Blueberry was once ranked one of the 40 best red wines in the world by the Beverage Testing Institute.
Maine's second largest winery, Blacksmiths Winery, opened in 2000 in a historic building in South Casco, Maine, in the Sebago Lake Region. They produce 19 different wines, including three sparkling fruit wines, grape wines and a Port-style wine made from plums, prunes, raisins and cherries. Some of the wines are made from Maine fruits including blueberries, raspberries and elderberries, and others are made from grapes from the Northwest and upstate New York. Sample their wines as well as their jellies and chutneys in the tasting room, where they also offer a large selection of Maine gifts.
The Winterport Winery in Winterport, Maine makes wines using blueberries, pears, apples, strawberries, cranberries and raspberries. Their tasting room is open February through December, and there is also an art gallery in the winery featuring works by local Maine artists, as well as those "from away."
The Cellardoor Winery in Lincolnville, Maine had its first harvest in 2000 and now offers more than a dozen wines including two blueberry wines: Blue Lobster Blue and Maiden's Cliff Blueberry, which will remind you of a Pinot Noir. Their tasting room is open daily May through October.
Other Maine vineyards include The Sow's Ear Winery in Brooksville and the Cask & Hive Winery in Monmouth.
Fruit wineries have to overcome preconceptions that fruit wines are syrupy sweet, and they are doing so by producing dry fruit wines, which fare very well in taste tests. See for yourself. Combine a tour and taste test with a fall foliage drive through the beautiful state of Maine or a trip to a local pick-your-own apple orchard for a memorable Maine autumn day.
