Maine Wild Wine Fest: Why (And How) We Put On An Annual Wine Fair
A recap and revisit of the 2024 Maine Wild Wine Fest and why it matters
It happened—the third annual Maine Wild Wine Fest 2024 came and went! We had about 400 people, 33 presenters, six food vendors, and a host of volunteers. I’m always so proud of this event and the incredible community it brings together year after year. I wanted to share with you a bit about why I do this thing, how it came to be, and why it matters so much.
In 2021, I decided I wanted to throw a “natural wine” focused festival close to where I lived in Portland, Maine. Portland has a beautiful community of wine lovers, and a strong connection to agriculture. Mainers understand the importance of supporting our local farms and small producers—the connection to local production is baked into the culture. We’re devoted to our farmer’s markets, show up at open farm days and MOFGA events, and live by “farm to table”. That makes it a perfect place for a wine fair that has sustainable agriculture at heart.
It turns out, at the same time only a couple of miles away, Ned from Devenish Wines was thinking the exact same thing.
Ned and I got together, picked up a whiteboard, and started brainstorming. We wanted to center wines made by small makers, without significant additives, made with care and an eye toward organic/regenerative agriculture. Ned would lead with bringing in visionary importers working with wines made outside of the USA, and I’d lead on domestic producers. We’d connect with a non-profit partner, raising awareness around a local issue. Maine Wild Wine Fest was born and we threw our first event in May 2022.
Below, I’ll share a few experiences from my perspective as the person who led the domestic side of this event, and why it was important for me to do this work:
Why throw a wine fair?
Planning an event with this many moving pieces is time consuming, so it’s important to have a mission, a set of reasons that I come back to during the planning process.
Get people to fall in love with American wine: Americans still don’t drink a lot of our locally made wines, and it’s especially true for New England. This is a shame considering the talent of our makers and the freedom of experimentation they get to express themselves through winemaking. American winemakers need support and uplift. I wanted to highlight local New England producers, small makers based in the states, and folks experimenting with different kinds of approaches to wine—ciders and fruit wines, co-ferments, flower wines, showcasing the range of creations our local makers put out there.
In the last three years, we’ve had several producers from New York, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, California, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Illinois, and are growing our stateside representation year after year. We highlight ciders, meads, ice wines, wild blueberry wines, co-ferments, rice wines, hybrid and vinifera wines from across the country. The diversity and range of what’s shown at Maine Wild Wine Fest is incredibly inspiring.
Build community: In order to drive our mission forward, Maine Wild Wine Fest needs to be welcoming to everyone, not just people already in the wine industry. 20% of our ticket sales go to folks in the food/bev/hospitality industry—that means 80% of festival attendees are consumers, and the community this blend of folks brings in is spectacular. We wanted to keep this fair small (under 500 people) so folks could make real connections, whether on the consumer or the industry side. We help facilitate off-site events during the festival weekend—winemakers pour at local bars and restaurants, host sessions and classes, and even DJ our afterparty! This effort strengthens our local restaurant and bar scene, as well as allows folks to connect with the makers right in their backyards.
Support winemakers looking for distribution: Finding new winemakers or those looking to expand their distribution opportunities is a major focus for the domestic side of this event. I try to invite makers who are looking to branch out, whether they’re new in production or not, so they can have a way to meet local distributors, buyers, writers, wine media, etc, and boost their awareness in the market. I want to see our local market expand with new offerings, and see small makers connect with future champions. Maine Wild Wine Fest has brought in several new makers to distribution here in Maine, and now I get to enjoy their wines when I go out—selfishly, a win!
How to throw a wine fair
I sometimes get requests from folks who want to set up their own wine fairs, which is really energizing. Bringing wine to our local communities can really make a difference! We need more fairs in places all over the country, not just in the big cities of New York and Los Angeles. I’m thrilled to see fairs like Peripheral in the Hudson Valley and Third Coast Soif in Chicago drive the conversation around fermenty bevs and small makers in their area.
Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way:
Have a mission: Why are you putting on this event? What are you hoping to get from the experience, and what do you hope the exhibitors and attendees get from it? The best events have a why and a mission behind them. My mission is around shining a light on New England and US winemakers, inspiring agricultural practices, and helping small producers grow. What’s yours?
Find your unique perspective: Maine Wild Wine Fest is in the middle of a stunning state park in Freeport, Maine, set in a barn built in the 1800s. Cows graze the periphery of the festival. There’s a large outdoor space for people to take a deep breath and reflect, hang out with the folks they came with. What’s unique about your location that adds perspective to the event? I love how Big West Wine Fest is set under the canopy of the redwoods, for example. It really speaks to their point of view.
Drive learning opportunities: Find ways to highlight the issues that tie into your event’s mission, whether that’s with classes and workshops, supporting a non-profit during the event, or sending out resources to event goers.
Get together with your local spots: A rising tide lifts all boats! Work with local bars and restaurants to host makers for tastings/classes/events while they’re in town. The more face time you can get makers with consumers and trade, the better they fare and the more likely it is the event will be worth their time. Your local watering holes will benefit from having a unique event to drive festival-goers to their place of business.
Choose good partners: I didn’t put on Maine Wild Wine Fest by myself. Ned (Devenish Wines) and I carried the vision forward and each owned our respective pieces—he runs the importer side and I run domestic. This is a great separation of duties because we can focus on our respective tasks, but come together on the bigger picture. We tasted most wines together as samples came in and spoke about how they fit into the vision of the event. Meg Quinn, who runs MKQ Events and is absolutely integral to the success of the event, ran logistics along with Nick, who supports on the Devenish side and runs non-profit co-ordination. We had a team of volunteers helping us day-of, without whom this would have been pretty much impossible.
Give your presenters a lunch break: We all need a break during a hectic day. Build it into your programming. It makes a difference.
I’m looking forward to the next Maine Wild Wine Fest 2025. Who do you want to see at the event? Which local producers are you excited to support as they grow? Reply to this email and help me start my list of makers to reach out to for next year.
Thanks for writing all these things down Margot, these are the same reasons I put on Soif! 👏🏽
My friend is moving to Portland very soon and I already told her we're going to this next year!