{"id":63571,"date":"2022-08-01T20:49:33","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T00:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/?p=63571"},"modified":"2022-08-01T20:49:35","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T00:49:35","slug":"wild-blueberry-wine-is-becoming-maines-hot-new-commodity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themainemag.com\/wild-blueberry-wine-is-becoming-maines-hot-new-commodity\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild Blueberry Wine is Becoming Maine\u2019s Hot New Commodity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From left, RAS winemakers Dan Roche, Joe Appel, and Emily Smith make wine with Maine wild blueberries sourced from organic growers in an effort to drive more local organic agriculture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every summer from July to September, rural Maine\u2019s miles and miles of wild blueberry barrens turn a distinct deep red and blue. Often called the low-bush blueberry, Maine\u2019s wild blueberry is different from the common blueberry in size, flavor, and territory, having adapted specifically to the barrens left by glaciers that receded from the area 10,000 years ago. Wild blueberries are more than just sweet: there\u2019s tartness, complex earthiness, and a concentration of flavor that sets them apart from the common blueberry; they are also generally much smaller in size and range in color from bright blue to almost black. Stewarded by Native Wabanaki people for many generations, the fruit has a history that runs deep in our glacial sandy soils, but today\u2019s blueberry growers walk a difficult path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wyman\u2019s, Allen\u2019s, and other processors purchase over 99 percent of the wild blueberries grown in the state. Farmers send their fruit to the processors, and in turn the processors tell the farmers how much they\u2019ll pay for the fruit. Since growers are not able to set their own prices, and processors can choose to take as little or as much fruit as they like, there\u2019s not much opportunity for the people cultivating the fruit to take hold of their business. With blueberry prices diving, thanks in part to competition from Canada, profits aren\u2019t looking good, and many growers are grappling with a tough decision: do they continue in this business or try their luck in a different industry altogether?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A bubbly pour of RAS\u2019s Arkadia wine, a dry sparkling wine made from a single ingredient: 2.5 pounds of organically raised wild
blueberries from the midcoast and downeast regions per bottle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The RAS A7 Americano is a wild blueberry-based aromatized wine infused with herbs, spices, fruits, and a touch of honey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More than just a snacking fruit, in recent years Maine\u2019s wild blueberry has come into its own as a valued ingredient for wine making. With so much access to local blueberries, why plant grapes at all? Wineries like Bluet in Scarborough, RAS in Portland, and Oyster River Winegrowers in Warren are paving the way for an industry that is on the brink of explosive growth. Purchasing the fruit directly from growers, these wineries pay more on the dollar than any of the current processors, who pay between 20 cents and one dollar per pound. \u201cThe industry itself doesn\u2019t offer a very financially stable reality for the farmers,\u201d says RAS winemaker Emily Smith. \u201cOpening up a value-added product like wild blueberry wine is a perfect avenue for growers because we buy tons of fruit fresh at a price that is higher than frozen, giving them a better revenue stream. It\u2019s an additional revenue stream as well, because frozen will always be an alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blueberry farmers are helping winemakers, too. With global temperatures rising and sustainability becoming paramount, burgeoning winemakers must decide whether grapes are the most responsible fruit to be working with. Wild blueberries are native to our soils, they don\u2019t require irrigation, and many blueberry growers choose not to spray pesticides or chemical fungicides, opting for organic farming methods instead. \u201cBecause of the changes in the climate and the world around us, we somehow struck on something that is becoming necessary to work on\u2014different beverages, different wines that are sustainable and that have the opportunity to be around for a long time,\u201d says RAS winemaker Dan Roche. \u201cIt\u2019s there\u2014why not utilize it? We feel pretty lucky that we got in when we did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bluet winery staff Ed Lutjens (left) and Davis Martinec make three styles of sparkling wild blueberry wines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The RAS signature wine, Arkadia, is a sparkling wine that’s dry, lively, and packed with earthy and fruity flavors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The wines themselves are incredibly versatile, with many different flavor profiles, although dry and sparkling tends to be the style choice of local makers. Deeper, full bodied wild blueberry wines, like Oyster River Winegrowers\u2019 \u201cThe Ewing Project,\u201d a dry and slightly effervescent wine made with fruit grown down the road from their winery in Warren, is bold and fruit forward. Bluet\u2019s champagne-style sparkling wine is fruity, earthy, beautifully fizzy, and pairs well with food. Their canned wine is especially appealing as a summer beverage\u2014fresh, dry, crisp, and perfect with a lobster roll or sipped on board a sailboat. RAS\u2019s Arkadia is a joyful sparkler made with 100 percent organic wild blueberries. The three-person team also makes a stellar blueberry-based vermouth, A7 Americano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There can be between 10 and 100 subvarieties of wild blueberries in a single field, which ferment together to showcase the local terroir in the final product. \u201cBecause it\u2019s a native fruit, the terroir conversation becomes central. That\u2019s something that consumers and winemakers are both very tied into,\u201d says Ed Lutjens, assistant winemaker at Bluet. \u201cWe think it\u2019s a great fit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wine is bottled at the Bluet winery in Scarborough.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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RAS winemakers Dan Roche, Emily Smith, and Joe Appel all work together in their Portland winery creating their small-batch sparkling and aromatized wild blueberry wines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The wild blueberry wine industry is just getting started, but the more winemakers (and beer brewers) use the fruit, the more local growers get paid and the longer the culture can survive and thrive. Wineries like Bluet are leading the charge, helping inspire more makers to start fermenting. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to develop other winemakers to play with wild blueberries in the state of Maine and elsewhere, and encourage more people to buy blueberries in general,\u201d says Lutjens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for buying the wines, you can be sure that you\u2019re drinking a product that supports the local blueberry industry\u2014and represents the local terroir. \u201cI feel very much supported in our Maine community,\u201d says Joe Appel, a winemaker at RAS. \u201cI also have confidence saying, yes, this is a product that is truly representative of Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bluet’s canned sparkling blueberry wine is crisp, refreshing, and bone dry. At 7% ABV, it’s perfectly paired with a day on the water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\t\t
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