Diary of a Distiller: Chapter Eight - Coastal Meaderings and Munchies

Since I last updated my journal I have supposedly been on vacation. Different groups of friends came to visit and so at first it was work, as I gave them in-depth tours and tastings at the winery and brerwery. I helped out a bit at the same time by doing some tastings for visitors, because everyone else was busy as can be. Mike, Joan, Jody, and Fred were making deliveries, bottling wine, disassembling and cleaning the new brewery equipment, researching what other odds and ends of stuff we need to replace, locating manuals and technical info on the brewing system, etc.

A few mornings I let my guests sleep in and helped tidy up the brewery/distillery. Mundane things like sorting through garbage for nuts and bolts, valves, gaskets, and anything else that might conceivably be of use. The previous owners of the equipment had to move everything out fast from the old location and some important odds and ends had somehow made it into garbage bags topped with refuse. I'm glad that we ended up with a few of the garbage bags, even if it it wasn't pleasant to dive into them, because solid stainless steel valves, tubes, etc. are quite pricey and it was worth it to save every one we can.

On Independence day my buddies Joe and Rob joined me for a weeks vacation, and we went in to Bangor to for the parade during the morning and the fireworks at night. I've been to quite a few great, small town parades since I moved to Maine a little over a year ago. This wasn't one of them. It was a bit mellower than I expected but still interesting. I always like to take some great photos of characters in the crowds dressed in weird outfits, or some candid shots of overwhelmed kids, harried parents, and calm seniors enjoying the sights.

As for the parade it consisted of a nice procession of local police, firefighters, a few antique autos, etc.; but not as much of the usual crazy cars, floats, and fun filled groups marching along harassing the audience. My radio personality and business expert friend, Deb Neuman, joined us during the parade and entertained us with background info on the who's and what's of local politics and other fun insider gossip, uh, I mean important civic information.

I think I mentioned last week that my friend Rob runs a fine wine and spirits shop in mid-town east near the United Nations building in NYC. It's funny, but before Rob and I ever met we both worked at several of the same wine shops in NY, but never the same one at the same time. During the parade Rob got a phone call from work. It seems that a cabbie decided to get a few bottles of wine from the drive through. The only problem is that there aren't any drive through wine shops in NYC, although it seems that Rob's place now is one. We had a few laughs and Rob was really glad he was on vacation. You can read about the taxi escapade here.

Here's a gallery of photos of the parade.


Afterwards Deb led us off to lunch at a local brew pub, the Sea Dog, on the waterfront in Bangor and we sat on the porch and watched boaters motoring and sailing up and down the Penobscot River. We sipped some tasty brews and happily munched on super fresh and tasty lobster rolls, fish chowder, and fried belly clams. If you haven't been to coastal New England, and especially Maine, then you may never have had the best type of friend clams, belly clams. These are lightly battered and fried, whole, shucked soft shell clams. The ones called steamers when they're steamed, are belly clams when fried. It's hard to find a bad fried belly clam, but every now and then you run across some truly excellent ones. These were striving hard to make it to that level and were wicked good.

We went home for the afternoon for some much needed rest, then headed back to Deb's place for the evening. As we got back in to town the crowds were obviously gathering for the fireworks, still several hours away. Deb lives in the middle of town on a hill with a great view of the fireworks, so we settled in and started off the festivities with a few glasses of icy cold Fancy That with some chips and assorted munchies. Fancy That is Winterport Winery's sparkling apricot wine and is a mighty fine libation. Mostly dry, with just a hint of sweetness, and chock full of ripe apricot flavors, it's like a nice champagne or cava with an apricot essence to it. I have come to really enjoy it as an aperitif or to celebrate a fun day. The fireworks were nice and the company even better

The next few days we did road trips to see the sights. I wanted to break several bottles with one stone by running errands while sightseeing. So I planned to visit a few wineries and while doing so drop off the new Maine Winery Guild 2008 Maine Wine Trail brochures. On the fifth of July we stopped for an early lunch at Wo's BBQ Grill on Verona Island. They have some great ribs, but the beans are to die for. I think they may have been some of the best baked beans I have ever had. I chatted for awhile with Charlie, the owner, about all kinds of things BBQ, food, and restaurant related; then he showed me around his place. It's not large, but has some outdoor tables and a nice indoor seating area.

Finally we finished up with some ice cream. New Englanders known their ice cream, and Mainers take the crown. There are so many places offering home, or locally made ice creams dotting the roadsides that you could make it a personal mission to try them all. I don't usually eat much ice cream, but with the hot weather I am suddenly craving it constantly. At Dorman's I like the banana, at Gifford's it's a tough pick from all the strange but tasty candy and fruit stuffed medley's; but after trying many of their more complicated offerings I seem to return to their strawberry for the creamy rich ice cream loaded with whole strawberries. At Wo's they have Shain's custom make them their signature ice cream, Sweet Heat. This instantly became my new, and all time favorite ice cream. Sweet Heat is a mocha ice cream stuffed full of cayenne chili roasted pecans. This is some really tasty ice cream. Super rich with a milky chocolate flavor blended with a touch of coffee. The pecans are fresh tasting and pack a spicy punch that makes you dive in for another luscious lick, to cool down your tongue then heat it up again.

After lunch we made our way out onto the Blue Hill peninsula to visit the Sow's Ear Winery in Brooksville, and the owner Tom Hoey. I hadn't met Tom in person, but spoke with him on the phone last fall when I was starting work on my Maine Wineries and Distilleries book. He has a small but quirky winery and creates some really unique hard ciders and wines. He also has an orchard and grows, if I remember correctly, around 30 varieties of apples, both sweet and tangy dessert apples and tart cider apples. His hard cider is very much like a traditional English style cider. If you haven't had one it can be a shock and takes getting used to. They are very tart and acidic, earthy and almost musty, and an acquired taste. I worked on learning to enjoy them many years ago when in England, so I enjoyed it, but Rob and Joe's eyes popped at their first taste. The most interesting wines that Tom makes are his rhubarb wine, and choke cherry wine. I picked up one of the Sow's Ear Winery's rhubarb wine t-shirts with a handsome hirsute hog on the front and made plans to come back in a few weeks so I could spend the day touring the place in depth and talk wine and cider with Tom. He's a really interesting character and I look forward to it. I parted with a gift from Tom of an aged hard cider that had been in the barrel for two years and then in the bottle for two more. I plan to crack it open with Mike and Jody back at the winery some time soon and see what it's like.

We then made our way to the town of Blue Hill and stopped off at the wine shop there to drop off some of the brochures. Rob perused their offerings with a calculated eye, while I chatted with the guys running the place. My friend Melina lives in Blue Hill and had been one of the people I had given an in-depth tour to earlier that week of our winery and we had talked wines, beers, and spirits for quite awhile. They mentioned that she had stopped by a few days earlier to turn them on to some of our dessert wines. Melina is absolutely wine crazy and plenty smart, with plans on a career in wines, and is thinking about getting a degree in Viticulture and Enology. Anyway, the Blue Hill wine shop has some of our wines for sale already, but now wants to carry more of our line. I have to remember to thank Melina next time I see her. Hey Melina, if you're reading this, Thanks. ;-)>

The Blue Hill peninsula is very beautiful and this was my first visit so we spent a lot of time driving along the country roads. I only saw a small part of it, but since it is only a short drive away I will have to spend some time this summer getting further acquainted.

The following day we headed out to Bar Harbor to visit Atlantic Brewing and had a taste testing of all their fine beers. (That's me having a tasty brown ale in the main photo.) Then to Bar Harbor Cellars for a tasting of their wines. Atlantic Brewing and Bar Harbor Cellars have the same owner, my friend Doug, and they have a free shuttle bus so you can park downtown and have them deliver you to and from their tours and tastings since the winery and brewery are located on the outskirts of town, a mile or two from each other. I recommend taking the shuttle so you don't have to drink and drive or deal with the traffic. Afterwards we had some great, locally made ice cream and gelato, and split up to wander around the town.

Bar Harbor has lots of great shops, so Rob went looking for this and that. Joe and I headed down Main Street to the waterfront, people watching and checking out the great harbor. He went left and I went right to see what we could see, cameras in hand and ready to shoot. I got some nice pics of boats and ships in the harbor, as well as the several islands plunked about. It is very picturesque and I snapped off a few dozen as I leisurely walked about. I love the digital camera age and being able to take thousands of photos without the high cost of film and developing. I have been a photographer since my dad put his old Canon SLR in my hands when I was eight or nine years old, and for many years was always held back by film costs. It was hard to decide whether to spend my hard earned cash on girls, cars, or cameras & film as a teen. I developed a lot of my own film and photos, but I'm so glad that I could throw away all the chemicals and other paraphernalia and go digital a few years ago

After exploring Bar Harbor we droveup Mt. Cadillac in Acadia National Park. The view is always worth a visit, whether cloud and mist shrouded, or a sunny day.

Later that afternoon we made our way over to the Schoodic peninsula and the towns of West Gouldsboro and Winter Harbor. We had plans to eat at my chef friend Carl's restaurant, the Fisherman's Inn and stay at his B&B for the night. We stopped by his smoke house, Grindstone Neck of Maine, for a quick and delicious lobster roll and some smoked salmon "candy", sort of like a tasty salmon jerky; as well as chip's and soda's to tide us over until dinner time and went to the B&B to settle in. (See pics in gallery below.)

The Sunset House B&B is a very nice place and while the rooms are usually pretty pricey, Carl and his wife Kathy decided to cut their rate this summer as a way to thank all their customers for their support over the years. Also it is their way to help fight the high cost of gas. Getting around in Maine isn't cheap since you have to drive everywhere, but staying at an inn or B&B for a week or two cuts costs since you can use that as your home base and just do small day tours to see all the sights. They don't really need to cut their rates since they always have customers, but it's nice of them and sure helps my budget. The B&B is set on 3-4 acres which is right across from the bay with views from the wraparound porch, as well as 300-400 feet of waterfront in the rear of the property on a 3.5 mile lake for boating and swimming. There is also a small stream that leads from their dam that controls the lake and meanders down to the bay. It's amazing that in Maine you can have a large lake that is just a few hundred feet from the ocean, and have property that sits in the middle.

Sadly, since they are such fantastic hosts, Carl and Cathy Johnson are finally putting the B&B on the market after more than 20 years, as they want to focus more on the restaurant and the smoke house. Running three business, all a few miles apart, is just way too much. If anyone is interested in owning a fine B&B circa 1898 and finely decorated, take a trip out there and stay for a few days. I wish I had known last year when I had some extra liquid cash lying around looking for an investment, because the price is a real steal and I would have grabbed it up. I still may if no one else does.

We made a quick run to the store had a six pack of Geary's Pale Ale to split among the three of us and sat on the porch enjoying the sunset and views, with short excursions about the grounds to enjoy the sights. Sea Smoke, that unusual form of fog was rolling by on the bay, so I ran for my camera, but it was gone so quick that I missed my shot. Later some thinner fog made its way across the lake and I got some nice photos of that and the golden light from the late afternoon sunshine lighting up the trees and grass.

Here's a gallery of photos of Bar Harbor, Mt. Cadillac, Sunset House B&B, and Schoodic Point.


As sunset came to an end and dusk was making an entrance, we headed from West Gouldsboro down the road five miles to Winter Harbor and the Fisherman's Inn restaurant. Kathy sat down with us to eat while Carl came out from the kitchen as he could for brief chats before scurrying back again. This weekend the restaurant was slammed, and even though it was late on a Sunday night the place was full. I'm glad I made a reservation a few weeks earlier. Our meal was great. All local and super fresh seafood and meats, hand picked by Carl who is extremely picky. Between us we had mussels in wine and garlic, mussels Thai style, fried clam bellies, lobster bisque, foccacia straight from the oven, lobster casserole, and much more, washed down with local ales and wines. For dessert Carl and Kathy brought out just about everything and we had hot fudge Sundays, assorted cakes, homemade wild Maine blueberry pie, Indian pudding, and more. I'm not usually one for sweets, but the blueberry pie is amazing, and so is the Indian pudding. Joe and Rob liked everything, especially the strawberry shortcake made from berries picked that morning and fresh whipped cream.

I had dropped off two bottles of dessert wines earlier in the day to chill and we opened them and did a tasting. one was an 2003 Austrian Beerenauslese and the other a Hardy's 2002 Botrytis Semillon from Australia that I had dug out of my wine cellar where they had been lying down in preparation of a celebration. The wines were amazing, especially the Hardy's and I am glad that I had a half case stashed away to mature further. Here's a review of their 2003 that I did a year ago, but the 2002 was much better.

We spent several hours chatting and then hit the sack. We all slept in the next morning and had a late breakfast. Carl had torched some sweetened cream cheese until it caramelized and this was served under several thick slices of French toast, mounded with strawberries and slices of grilled ham., with a drizzle of maple syrup. The caramelized cream cheese was like warm cheesecake and went amazingly well with the French toast and the berries. I am not a big breakfast person and had only expected to have a few bites, but I cleaned my plate since it was so good. I wish I could stay for a week and let Carl and Kathy feed me. I would have to take advantage of the boating, hiking, and other activities so I wouldn't end up waddling my way home a few pounds heavier, although much happier.

This will be continued next week while I am in New Orleans for eight days attending Tales of the Cocktail. I am one of the contributing writers, as is fellow blogger Keith Waldbauer, and over two dozen of the best cocktail and spirits writers around. You can read some of what all of us contributing writers are posting about Tales of the Cocktail here. All of the writers have been posting previews over the past few months and once the event starts we will be writing all week about the seminars and other events we attend. I'll also be one of the judges for the 2008 Ministry of Rum Tasting Competition and hope to write about that experience.