The Fizz: Maine Wild Wine Fest is here! (And a look into Niccolo Coturri's Moon Bloom)
A peek into the fourth annual Maine Wild Wine Fest, and for paid subscribers, a journey into Niccolo Coturri's Madeleine Angevine, Moon Bloom.
Hello dear readers! Many of you know that along with Devenish Wines, I co-organize a natural wine festival here in Maine called Maine Wild Wine Fest. This Saturday, May 17th, it’ll be our fourth year running. My local community in Maine may not be the best known wine circle in the states, but our little corner of the world has some incredible winemakers, wine shops, bars and restaurants, and all around wine establishments that I absolutely love.
I’m so happy to share our upcoming event with you, where U.S. based winemakers and international importers will share their cuvées in a wine fair centered on the environment and community building. Maine Wild Wine Fest will be held in Freeport’s Wolfe’s Neck Barn on Saturday May 17th—an incredible 1800s post-and-beam partially uncovered barn with a ton of character, right by Wolfe’s Neck State Park overlooking the water. It’s beautiful, surrounded by grazing cows, inlet water views, and native grasses. This is the kind of setting that makes you want to take a deep breath and stay a while.
You’ll meet some of my favorite winemakers and cidermakers, including Joseph Jibril Wines, middlebrow, Broc Cellars, Patois, Forlorn Hope, Left Bank Ciders, Ria’s Wines, Iapetus, Eden Ciders, and many others as well as local makers: Oyster River Winegrowers, Absolem, High Ridge Farm, Alpine Garden Winery, and others. We have a ton of incredible importers joining with a wide variety of wine, including Zev Rovine Selections, Louis/Dressner, Vinotas Selections, Brazos Wine Imports, East West Wines, and others. See the lineup here—it gets continuously updated. We’re also putting on a workshop at the festival that teaches you how to make your own cider at home this year, including techniques for sourcing wild apples and the equipment you’ll need for cidermaking in your kitchen (or garage, or what-have-you), taught by foraging expert Sean Turley and cidermaker Zack Kaiser of Absolem.
We've designed this event to give you plenty of space to talk in depth with the winemakers and importers in attendance, not feeling rushed or cramped in the space. There will be two separate attendance windows ensuring that there aren’t too many people there at a time. Throughout the weekend, we’ll have events at local restaurants like Quanto Basta, Friends and Family, Maine and Loire, and others. Local tasting rooms will be open ready to receive guests and travelers. It’ll be a weekend of community bonding, exploring new makers and wines, and getting to know our local environment during an incredibly special time of year right around budbreak. I really hope you’ll join us.
Get your fest and workshop tickets here, and if you’re in the wine industry, shoot me an Instagram DM or email for the industry discount. I can’t wait to see you! Questions about the festival? Just reply to this email or send me a DM on Instagram.
2023 Niccolo Coturri Moon Bloom, Lopez Island, WA
Today is a gorgeous day in Maine—65 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. I’m home alone dancing to Bad Bunny in my kitchen with the windows open, drinking the 2023 Moon Bloom by Niccolo Coturri. I was lucky to stumble upon this wine at Momma’s in Cambridge, MA. I don’t have a ton of experience with Washington wines, even though Washington is the second largest wine producing state in the United States. What’s more, this is my first time tasting the grape making up this wine, Madeleine Angevine.
