Bluet

BUYThoreau called wild blueberries “bluets” and wrote of their “innocent ambrosial taste, as if made of the ether itself”. Bluet wild blueberry sparkling wine captures summer in Maine with the purity of a single ingredient: native Maine wild blueberries. Bluet Méthode Champenoise and Bluet Charmat Method are bubbly, dry wines with bright natural acidity and may be enjoyed as an apéritif, mixed in a cocktail, or served with food.

Winery

Bluet began in an 1820s barn in Jefferson, Maine – a natural setting for a truly Maine wine. The fieldstone cellar turned out to be no match for winter’s cold and so we moved to a respectable if less romantic concrete and steel building last year. Happily, this new space has allowed us to make a new wine in 2018: a Charmat Method wild blueberry sparkler, made in the style of Prosecco. Both the original Champagne Method and the new Charmat method wines are pure expressions of their single ingredient: Maine wild blueberries, each with a character of its own.

Champagne + Charmat

Bluet wild blueberry sparkling comes in two styles: Champagne and Charmat. Both are made from 100% Maine wild blueberries. With the Champagne Method, secondary fermentation occurs in bottle followed by disgorging à la volée to expel the yeast. With the Charmat Method (and this is the way Prosecco is made) the secondary fermentation takes place in tank prior to filling bottles. The wines are naturally different:  the Champagne Method boasts a creamy, fine mousse and complex flavor while the Charmat Method is brightly bubbly with vivid fresh berry aroma.

Wild Blueberry Fields

The native Maine wild blueberry evolved in glacial-marine soils found from mid-coast to Down East. Growing in dense short thickets, wild blueberries are tiny, dark, and more flavorful than the big berries you find at your grocery store. Not surprisingly, wild blueberries possess twice the anti-oxidants of those hybrid blueberries. With two pounds pressed to make every bottle, Bluet is a naturally healthful and pure wine.

Small family farms have been struggling with shifting global agricultural economics that favor industrially produced hybrid berries. Wild blueberries, Maine’s iconic fruit, are an extraordinarily healthful fresh berry that makes beautiful wine. We are proud to make Bluet and thank you for supporting Maine’s wild blueberry farms by drinking our wine. Please visit the Wild Blueberry Wine trade group to learn more.

Team

Meet Eric Martin, Ed Lutjens, Coco O’Neill, and Michael Terrien. We all do a little bit of everything, but Michael’s the winemaker, Ed leads production, Coco leads sales, and Eric tells our story. Michael and Eric grew up together in Maine and started this whole thing a few years ago with a question: could wild blueberries make good sparkling wine? Along the way, we bought a beautiful oak barrel from Ed, who may be Maine’s last cooper, and asked if he’d like to join us and bring his elevated care and craftsmanship to our wine production process. And in 2020, after admiring her soulful approach to wine buying and operations at some of Portland’s most innovative restaurants–including Central Provisions, we invited Coco to help us share Bluet with the world. You can reach any of us individually at firstnameatbluetdotme.

Serving Bluet

A chilled glass of Bluet makes a fine dry apéritif on its own but as the foundation of a sparkling cocktail, Bluet has an affinity for a variety of ingredients. Try Bluet with a splash of triple sec over crushed ice and a sprig of mint, or give it an old-fashioned treatment with rye whiskey, simple syrup and bitters. If you can get your hands on some mead, pour over ice, squash a lemon and float Bluet on top for a perfect peak-of-summer drink.

Rowan Jacobsen ~ Yankee

“I wonder if anywhere else on earth has a 100-mile Zen garden of fruit just begging to be explored. A Lost World of wine. The young farmers will find it. And the young romantics will follow. And then everyone else who is young or old and aching to be immersed in a place that rises up and floods the senses in its own unmistakable flavor.” read on… or Download PDF

Eric Asimov ~ The New York Times

“It’s this iconic fruit of Maine, and we know there’s a cipher, a geography, that’s written into it,” he said. “It’s got to make something that speaks of this place.” read on… or Download PDF

Astrid Lium ~ The Boston Globe

“Bluet is not intended to emulate traditional grape wine, but rather it is forging a unique identity and providing a fresh experience for wine drinkers. Although this tart beverage is currently considered a regional delicacy, that may change as it expands beyond its Maine roots. read on… or Download PDF

Mary Pols ~ Portland Press Herald

“Can blueberry wine with bubbles give Maine farmers a meaningful outlet for sales?” read on… or Download PDF

Ray Isle ~ Food & Wine

“I like its crispness, the low alcohol level, and the intense blueberry character it offers without sweetness. Seems like an ideal summer possibility for drinking by the water in Maine, actually, which is where I am every August. I think Bluet would also be a great aperitif/cocktail hour drink.” read on…

Contact Us

Phone: 207-536-8002

admin@bluet.me

Bluet on Facebook  | Bluet on Instagram

BLUET —No Tasting Room

15 Washington Ave. Unit #9

Scarborough, ME 04074

Wild Blueberry Wine Trade Group

Wholesale accounts please contact:
Crush Distributors in Maine and New Hampshire
VOS Selections in New York and New Jersey
MS Walker in Massachusetts and Rhode Island
Vermont Wine Merchants in Vermont
Lime Ventures in California
Metro Cellars in Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland
RNDC in Louisiana

Bluet Fact Sheet PDF

Bluet in Cocktails PDF

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