Cellardoor Winery attracts visitors from across the country

(NECN: Marnie MacLean, Lincolnville, Maine) – When the conversation turns to goo wine, you don’t often hear people talk about the offerings from Maine. That is starting to change. The state is now home to more than 15 wineries. One in particular is attracting visitors from across the country. “It has a nice peach aroma a little undertone of honey and for me ends with a lemon zest” When Rick and Denise Audette first came upon the Cellardoor Winery near Camden, Maine they didn’t have very high expectations. Denise Audette–South Hadley, Mass.: “We’ve stopped at many wineries in our travels and on the East Coast it’s hit or miss, hard to find one you really like” Which is why they are having such a good time at this wine tasting. That’s the fun part for Cellardoor owner Bettina Doulton—she loves to watch her guests get excited about the wine. It’s a whole new journey for Doulton who spent most of her career working in Boston as a money manager for Fidelity-a job she loved…but in 2006 she was diagnosed with cancer–and decided it might be time to realize a long held dream to own her own business. Bettina Doulton: “I came here Dec. 2006, it was covered with snow…barn closed down, fell in love with the place” Cellardoor winery sits on 68 acres of rolling fields just a few miles outside of Camden in Lincolnville. The previous owners started the winery. Doulton has taken their original vision, and made it her own…creating mostly grape based wines. Bettina: “We have everything from a vignette, petit syrah, a concord. It’s a wide palette and a lot of fun things” Because Bettina wanted to create a broader palette of wines than the precious owners, she made the decision to replant entire five acres because Mother Nature takes time, a few years before Cellardoor can make wine from own grapes” Bettina: “In the meantime, we get our grapes from Washington and California. It’s good, all good” The grapes arrive in September…but right now, it’s blueberry season in Maine–and Cellardoor’s winemakers are letting me help turn 8 tons of blueberries nto wine. “We’re trying to do a very dry, rich dark kind of red wine style out of the blueberries this year” Nearly all the wine at Cellardoor is aged in Oak barrels–in the basement of a 200 year old barn. Aaron: “Especially being from Maine it’s really cool to come here and help the Maine wine industry, help figure out what going to grow here and what we can do here as far as winemaking as well.” For Bettina, it’s less about selling a bottle of wine–and more about offering guests a warm and inviting experience. There are free tastings in the renovated barn at the winery, and at the nearby Cellardoor Villa–a converted Victorian that greets people on the main road into Camden. Cellardoor is one of the wineries on the newly created Maine wine trail–a Maine version of the Napa Valley experience—on a much smaller scale. Bettina: “There’s a fascination with wine trails. I think it’s a big opportunity” The Audette’s are happy their trail lead them here. Denise: “You don’t think of wineries in Maine–this is a nice surprise” It’s a long way from managing mutual funds in Boston– but Bettina Doulton is still doing what she knows—beating expectations.