Category: Events

Monday – Lager Dog will be popping-up at Oxbow today.

Tuesday – Cocktail Mary is holding a wine dinner.

Thursday – Mrs. Gee Free Living and Sur Lie are collaborating on a gluten-free dinner.

October 9th – Oxbow Brewing is holding their annual Goods from the Woods event in Newcastle.

October 17th – Craft Curbside and Portersfield Cider are collaborating on a 5-course cider dinner, and Mami, Sur Lie and Austin Street are collaborating on a pop-up event to celebrate Sur Lie’s 7th anniversary.

For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.

This Week – Maine Lobster Week is taking place through Saturday.

Thursday – Wayside Tavern is holding a Sicilian wine dinner.

Saturday – Novare Res is one of a select number of locations worldwide participating in Cantillon Zwanze Day, and the Tate House Museum is holding ColoniAle 2021 with a lecture by Colby professor Ben Lisle entitled “Ale for Invalids: Brewing and Drinking Beer Under the Maine Law in 19th Century Portland.”

September 28th – Cocktail Mary is holding a wine dinner, tickets go on sale September 21st.

The Maine Pomological Society is celebrating Maine Apple Sunday this weekend. 17 orchards across the state from Wells to Mercer will be taking part. Check the MPS website for a full list of participating orchards and specials being offered.

The Maine State Pomological Society will hold the 21th annual Maine Apple Sunday on September 12, 2021 with participating orchards around the state. Maine Apple Sunday starts the peak of the apple harvest when summer apples are still available but the main crop is ready for its first pick. Apple orchards from Wells to Caribou will celebrate by offering special activities and free samples of apple products.

The Maine Cheese Guild is holding their Maine Cheese Festival this Sunday in Pittsfield. There are two sessions  11 am – 2 pm and 3  – 6 pm. Tickets are available online.

We are pleased to announce the return of the Maine Cheese Festival, our annual showcase of the best artisan cheeses made in Maine. Manson Park is a large and open park along the Sebasticook River – a beautiful setting for festival attendees to taste the vast array of superb Maine cheeses crafted from cow, goat, water buffalo and sheep milk. This Festival is the largest gathering of Maine cheese makers in the state and a great opportunity to learn about the craft right from the makers.

For those of you who may be wanting to participate in both The Apple Farm in Fairfield is just a few towns over from Pittsfield.

Anoche (website, instagram) has announced plans for the 2nd Annual Backyard Cider Project. This exciting community-oriented initiative will be gathering apple donations from the public, and work with Après Cider House (website, facebook, instagram) in East Bayside to press, ferment and bottle a “unique cider that showcases the terroir of Maine”.

All across our state, apple trees abound on public and private property, and a large portion of these apples go to waste. With the apple harvest being upon us, we are asking any and all who have access to apple trees to bring us your fruit! SO, bring whatever you can:

Blemished apples, small apples, crabapples, you name it! Because cider apples don’t typically taste good to eat—the more bitter and sour, the better! You can drop your apples off at Anoche any day of the week from 4pm to 9pm, or at Après Thursday through Sunday from noon to 8pm.

If you bring a bushel or more (40+ pounds) you’ll qualify for our raffle. The winner will receive an apple tree from a local nursery so that we can keep the tradition going for years to come!

Drop-off Schedule: Apples for the Project can be dropped off at Anoche 4 pm – 9 pm daily, or at Après noon – 8 pm (Thursday through Sunday).

As in 2020, Anoche will be noting down the harvest locations of the apples so when the cider is released we can see the unique geographic fingerprint of where the fruit came from. The 2020 Backyard Cider Project cider is expected to be released later this year.

This week’s Portland Phoenix includes an article on Fork Food Lab’s Summer Sampler Series.

Tickets for the Summer Sampler Series are $10 for one event or $25 to attend all three. Included in the admission price is a complimentary beer, wine, or seltzer, and a Fork Food Lab tote bag to carry the evening’s goodies.

“It was our hope that people would come to sip, sample and shop,” Sinclair said. “Then they would come to have a drink but then will also buy something to support (the members).”

The Summer Sampler Series is taking place June 23rd, July 21st and August 18th. Tickets are available on the Fork website.

Just in time for Portland Wine Week, the Maine Sunday Telegram has published an article about the developing New England wine industry.

New England wine used to mean pouring yourself a small glass of fruity sweetness. But a growing number of winemakers in the region are now turning out bottles of wine that pair better with a piece of fish or beef than a slice of pie. Some, like Manley and Maine-based Bluet and RAS Wines – which are producing bright, dry blueberry wines – are focusing on native fruits, while others are growing and fermenting cold-hardy hybrid grapes that can survive the region’s below-zero temperatures, are more tolerant of local pests and diseases, and in the end, drink more like classic dry wines than dessert wines.

Visit portlandwineweek.me for the full PWW schedule, and be sure to check out the panel discussion taking place Monday morning if you’d like to learn more about New England wines. Margot Mazur will be leading a panel that includes Dan Lutjens from Bluet, Dan Roche from RAS Wines, Morten Hallgren from Ravines Wine and Brian Smith from Oyster River. They’ll be discussing the Past, Present and Future of Winemaking in the American Northeast.

Tune into the Food Network on Tuesday night at 9 pm to see chef Bo Bryne from the Harraseeket Inn compete on the latest episode of Chopped.

Mike Mwenedata CEO of Rwanda Bean, Niky Watler co-founder of Maiz, and Lucie Narukundo owner of Moriah Market will be part of a panel discussion on Monday 11th, noon to 1 pm on Barriers and Opportunities for BIPOC Entrepreneurs in Maine.

Register online.

A growing number (18 and counting) of Portland restaurants are working together to raise money for Stop AAPI Hate, an organization dedicated to addressing anti-Asian hate amid the pandemic.

May 16th through May 22nd participating restaurants will donate $1 for every order of the Stop AAPI Hate item on their menu. Already signed up for this program are:

• Austin Street
• Baharat
• Central Provisions
• Chaval
• Cocktail Mary
• Copper Branch
• DiMillo’s
• Eventide
• Forage
• Highroller Lobster Co.
• LB Kitchen
• Leeward
• Little Giant
• Luke’s Lobster
• Mr. Tuna
• Onggi
• Sur Lie
• The Good Table
• The Honey Paw
• Tipo
• Yosaku

Restaurants that want to take part should reach out to Krista Cole at Sur Lie (krista@sur-lie.com). You can also make a donation to Stop AAPI Hate online.

On a related note, Hilltop Coffee has announced they’ll be raising funds for Asian Americans Advancing Justice. During the month of May, $1 will be donated for every Green Goddess avocado toast purchased during the month at Hilltop. Hilltop’s initiative was inspired by the Dough Something project launched by Chicago pastry chef Beverly Kim.

You can also make a donation to Asian Americans Advancing Justice online.

The 3rd Annual Portland Wine Week (website, facebook, instagram, twitter) is taking place this summer June 14th to 20th at various locations across the city. There are 38 events already on the calendar and more are being added every week.

Here are some of the highlights:

• A 4-course lunch featuring wines from four women winemakers
• A tasting seminar on the wines from Lopez de Heredia and a Lopez de Heredia wine lunch at Chaval
• A pair of tasting seminars of Chateau Musar
• A Women in Wine dinner featuring 5 chefs and the 10 women sommeliers. Each dish paired with different wines by two sommeliers with voting on who paired it better.
• Wine dinners and wine lunches with Little Giant, Isa Bistro, Chaval and Sur Lie
• A Hungarian wine tasting at Grippy Tannins
• A wine and Maine cheese tasting organized by the Maine Cheese Guild
• A Barre & Bubbles event at Solo Italiano
• Wine Wise wine sails in Casco Bay Wednesday through Sunday
• Numerous weeklong wine pour and food specials at restaurants around Portland from Mr Tuna, Local 188, The North Point, Evo, Leeward, Old Port Sea Grill, Little Giant, Maine Oyster Company, and Knotted Apron

Follow Portland Wine Week on instagram to keep in the loop on new events as they’re announced.

Also check out the Sponsorship page on portlandwineweek.me for opportunities to support Portland Wine Week overall or specific events on the program.