DownEast Acadia’s wineries are part of the Maine Wine Trail, which consists of more than 20 wineries across the state, producing grape and fruit wines, distilled spirits, meads, ciders, and fortified wines. Four call our region home.

Enjoy the artisanal experience of traditional oak barrel-aging at Catherine Hill Winery in Cherryfield, which keeps its vineyard planted with several cold-hardy grapes. They have been hand-crafting in small batches since 2021. The winery produces complex, barrel-aged reds, crisp, refreshing whites, and berry wines of intense flavor. Visit their intimate tasting room and outside seating area in Cherryfield. On a hot summer day, you may even be offered a wine slushie.

The oldest of the region’s vintners, Bartlett Maine Estate Winery, has been making wine from local fruit since 1975. They have been so successful that when Bartlett’s Blueberry Reserve was sent to France, the tasters refused to believe it was pressed from blueberries. Bartlett Spirits of Maine Distillery produced Rusticator Rum, a small bath rum made from organic molasses and aged in oak. Please stop by their tasting room from June to October.

Perhaps you’d like a blueberry, pear, apple wine, or a cranberry or honey mead crafted at Shalom Organic Orchard Farm & Winery in Franklin—the first organic winery on the East Coast. Their fruit wines are grown and vinified organically, certified by MOFGA under the NOP standards. They also offer Farm Stays in a lovely, private apartment in the ell of the farmhouse. 

Sow’s Ear Winery in Brooksville exudes a sense of free-spiritedness and a willingness to experiment with new methods and products. I began in the early nineties with traditional English-style hard ciders and expanded to some unique fruit wines. Their Rhubarb Wine, made from local, organically-grown rhubarb stalks, is described as having a natural tartness that translates into a fruity aperitif. The small tasting room is open during the summer months.