Maine's wine industry is a tiny one, as is the case with many of the "other 47" American states. Their 43,000 gallons per year production is ahead of only Montana in volume. With only a handful of vineyards in the state, Maine's wine producers often rely on cold-weather hybrids or fruit other than grapes. Grapes are also sourced from New York and California. You are likely to find Maine wines made from cranberries or blueberries, or cider, made from apples.
Maine, unfortunately, led the nation by passing the first state law prohibiting the sale of alcohol except for "medicinal, mechanical or manufacturing purposes." They are, to their credit, making up for that error.
Mead is also popular in Maine. As we have learned in the Wine Country series, mead is wine made from honey, not grapes. Not always sweet - as one might expect from a product made of honey - meads are produced using only honey, but are also produced using a mixture of honey and fruit.
Maine Mead Works operates out of Portland. Portland is Maine’s largest city, with over 66,000 residents, but the Greater Portland metro area boasts a population of over 500,000. One third of the people in Maine live near Portland.
Technology entrepreneur Ben Alexander founded Maine Mead Works in 2007 with the assistance of award-winning South African meadmaker Dr. Garth Cambray. The meadery makes their meads using Maine wildflower honey and other locally-grown products. Their meads are sold under the Honeymaker label, and the eight varieties all register a 12.5% abv number.
Honeymaker meads come in a variety of styles - Dry Mead, Blueberry, Semi Sweet, Apple Cyser, Cranberry, Lavender, Strawberry & Dry Hopped Mead. They also do an Elderberry mead for the winter. They recommend you enjoy their meads by the glass, as a mixer in a cocktail or as a secret ingredient in cooking. Maine Mead Works provided me with two samples of their Honeymaker meads.

