#mainewine

[topochinesvino]

Wine from Maine? Who has had it? We had a late lunch at the very cool Saltwater Oyster Depot after a day of hiking around Point Reyes Seashore and saw this 2018 Morphos Pet Nat Rose from Maine. My curiosity got the best of me and I ordered it. What a great choice! This 11% alcohol bubbly was dry but the fruit was very present and nicely balanced with acid. Nothing added - no sugar, no sulfur, no nothing. Now I have to taste more Maine wine! ———————————————- #winesfrommaine #maine #mainewine #mainewinetrail #petnat #bubblywine #sonomacoast #saltwateroysterdepot #petillantnaturel (at Saltwater Oyster Depot) https://www.instagram.com/p/B681ZUjn4xx/?igshid=2x3lrkiyn8v6

[thearizonawinemonk]

New episode of the Make America Grape Again Podcast is up today, featuring Maine! We drink the Wild Blueberry Wine from Bartlett Maine Estate Winery, and talk fruit wine. #mainewine #fruitwine #wine #blueberrywine #podcast #winepodcast #winereview #drinkinnaturephotography #drinkmaine #blueberry #bottlesofinstagram #wineofinstagram #makeamericagrapeagain https://www.instagram.com/p/BoR4snFh7YR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=by5oan04fbn2

[danamoos]

A quick visit with clients on s Friday afternoon. Perfect! #Maine #mainewine #cellardoor #wine (at Cellardoor Winery)

[kendalltaverninn]

What happens when the Food Network calls?

Yes, that happened to us a few months ago. They were looking for contestants for a show they did last year and wanted to pitch again for this year. Dare we say it? Clash of the Grandmas! In the long run it didn’t work out for us - they were looking for everything cooked on a burner or on a grill, nothing in the oven. No muffins or scones? No cookies? It just didn’t fit our profile. But before we figured that out, we had a good time learning to....wait for it....cook lobster!

Yes, believe it or not, we had never cooked lobster. Ever. So we invited our guests who were staying with us and fellow innkeepers to join us for dinner. So. Much. Fun! Of course we had to have some Maine beer and Maine wine with that Maine Lobster. 

First we had some appetizers....

And then Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Macaroni and Cheese...

And made Lobster Salad....

And of course Maine Blueberry Cobbler...

Thanks to our guests we had a great night. Even if we didn’t end up on the Food Network. Maybe someday when they are looking for a great baker!

http://www.kendalltaverninn.com

[ofmaltandmerlot]

Practice Yourself What You Preach

The next wine on our fifty state wine tasting trail was from Maine, a wine-challenged state with a small, but growing wine industry.  Thanks to some thousand year-old advice, the tasting turned out to be one of the best state wines we have had so far.

With short growing seasons and harsh winters, Maine’s climate is not particularly well-suited to the production of most vinifera varieties.  The use of heartier hybrid strains including St. Croix, Frontenac and Marechal Foch along with native varieties like Concord and Niagara is much more prevalent in Maine winemaking.  But Maine winemakers have become highly-skilled at producing quality wines made from non-grape fruits such as cranberries, blueberries and raspberries.  Although “Mainer’s” are a characteristically understated and unflappable bunch, when it comes to fruit wines, they are unapologetic and proud.

So in retrospect, I should not have been surprised that the bottle of wine that our family member generously obtained for us was a blueberry wine.  Which brings me to the sage advice that made our tasting so memorable. One of the things that continues to draw me to wines is the seemingly limitless amount that can be learned about the subject.  And while much of the learning is intellectual, a significant amount can also be learned through the experience of tasting.  To that end, I try to approach each wine I taste from the perspective of what I can learn from it - “how does the variety taste?”, “what are the results of the method of winemaking used?”, “is there something unique about this vintage?” – opportunities to learn from almost any wine is virtually endless.  So my encouragement to anyone whose rationale for not trying a wine is that they know they don’t like it is typically “At least give it a try.  You might learn something new.”

More than two thousand years ago, the Roman playwright Plautus wrote a series of comedies based on earlier Greek works.  Among the plays that he wrote was one that was titled Asinaria (translated as “The One with the Asses”).  In the play, a slave named Libanus offers the advice “Practice yourself what you preach” to the protagonist’s son Argyrippus who had shared an unsolicited opinion with him.

Although the setting was different, the advice was relevant when it came to tasting the Maine blueberry wine.  Based on my own preconceived notions and biases about fruit wines, I had decided that the wine was going to be sweet and syrupy – two characteristics that I do not appreciate in wine.  My initial thoughts were that I already knew what the wine tasted like and I was not going to like it.  I put off opening the bottle for some time, but eventually decided that I should heed my own “preaching” and find out what the wine was all about.

The wine we tasted was called “Breakwater Blues” and was produced from 100% Maine-grown blueberries.  It was dark and inky in the glass as you might expect.  But when I smelled it, I got my first surprise from the wine.  It didn’t smell overly-fruity or perfumed, but smelled more like a wine made from a vinifera variety.  The next surprise came when I tasted it.  It was dry and robust, with a full and balanced body.  With the second taste I realized that it reminded me of a slightly toned-down Cabernet Franc.  I fully expected the sweetness to kick in, but it never did.  It was a very enjoyable wine that I would have no hesitation offering to guests either with a meal or by itself.

Sometimes it pays to listen to the advice that you give others.  In this case, I’m glad I did.  Even if it did take a reminder from a two thousand year-old comedy about….. well, you know.

Here’s the wine: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/16114511144948517/

[thymeonmyside]

Cellardoor pairings: Buddakan Street Food. Yum. #Cellardoor #maine #mainewine @devonsalisbury @carissa_jay

[migislodge]

Wine training with Sam Brown CSW from Pine State Trading. We'll have some wonderful choices for you this season! #migislodge #pinestatetrading #mainedining #mainewine (at Migis Lodge)