Trending this summer: Low-alcohol, vegan wines that pair especially well with vegetarian and vegan foods. And Maine wineries are meeting the growing demand.

The newfound popularity of these wines is part of a wider reshaping of the dining world, according to Joe Appel, former Press Herald wine columnist and co-founder with Dan Roche and Emily Smith of RAS Wines in Portland, which produces low-alcohol wines.

“In the 1970s, it was steak, cream sauces and opulence with fine dining,” said Appel, noting that such food paired well with full-bodied wines with high alcohol content. “Now, in fine dining, you’re likely to have way more vegetables on the plate than anything else. There’s a lot of lighter-bodied food in general. Pad Thai, banh mi or North African cuisine. It’s lighter, interesting spices and heat.”

Low-alcohol wines make the ideal match for such dishes. These drinks used to be niche products, but with millennials and members of Gen Z making up a larger share of wine drinkers, their concerns about moderation and health have changed the market.

“The last thing I want to drink with kimchi and silken tofu tacos is a 14½ percent cabernet sauvignon,” Appel said, referring to the wine’s alcohol content. “I want bubbles, maybe a 10 percent riesling or a 7½ percent sparkling blueberry wine.”

Low-alcohol, vegan wines produced by RAS Wines in Portland include Wild, Arkadia, A7 Americano and Blu(i)sh. Photo courtesy of RAS Wines

He’s well-placed to enjoy a sparkling blueberry wine, since RAS makes a variety of low-alcohol and all-vegan blueberry wines that pair well with plant-based meals. These include the Blu(i)sh, a 5.5 percent dry cider made from apples and blueberries; the Wild, a 7 percent wine in a can fermented from Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Co. berries; and the Arkadia, an 8 percent sparkling wine fermented from 2½ pounds of organic wild Maine blueberries per bottle.

Not all wines are considered vegan or even vegetarian. In the wine-making process, some winemakers use non-vegan fining agents, which are added to make wines clearer and to adjust flavors; such agents may include egg whites, gelatin (made from animal bones and skins), casein (made from cow’s milk), or isinglass (made from fish bladders).

It can be challenging to know which wines are vegan, since many vegan wines are not labelled, although that is beginning to change. Also, vegan fining agents are becoming more widely used. Market research firm IndustryARC, based in India, predicts demand for vegan wine will grow almost 10 percent per year between now and 2030, when it’s estimated to become a $5 billion market.

Here in Maine, a number of wineries are benefiting from these market changes by selling low-alcohol, vegan wines.

Founded in 2019, RAS grew out of conversations between Appel, Roche, Smith and Michael Terrien, the owner of the Bluet winery in Scarborough, which traces its roots to 2014 in a barn in Jefferson.

“Michael said, ‘You should do this,’” Appel recalls of the conversations the trio, who then worked for Rosemont Market, had with the winery owner. “His idea, that we took and ran with, is that there is this incredible indigenous fruit in Maine that is actually well-suited to making a wine for now.”

Because of Maine’s cold climate, fruits that grow here don’t develop as many natural sugars as fruits grown in warmer places. Low-sugar fruits yield lower alcohol beverages because alcohol is the product of sugar fermentation.

A can of the sparkling, low-alcohol, vegan wine from Scarborough winemaker Bluet. The cans can be found in high-end restaurants, from Portland to Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of Bluet

Terrien, who has a traditional winemaking background from his time in the California wine industry, said he was intrigued by the potential of Maine’s best-known fruit and began experimenting with it. Knowing that blueberries fermented with no additives would yield a low-alcohol wine, Terrien was reminded of Champagne grapes, grown in a part of France with cooler temperatures. He realized Champagne’s signature bubbles would enliven Maine blueberry wine.

“The taste of blueberry wine is not that satisfying if it is a still wine,” Terrien said, “so we make a sparkling wine.”

Bluet makes a 7 percent alcohol, vegan wine sold in cans, as well as versions bottled using the Charmat and Champagne methods. Terrien said Maine winermakers are well-positioned to meet the demands of the changing market.

“The wine industry has been dealt a blow by health concerns,” Terrien explained. “It has led to decreased consumption across the country. But that has suited Bluet very well because of the alcohol content and the antioxidants from blueberries.”

The wines are more traditional and some have a higher alcohol content at Oyster River Winegrowers in Warren, where it, too, is seeing increased interest in its vegan, low-alcohol wines. Founded in 2007, Oyster River makes wine from its own grapes and some from other vineyards. It also ferments Maine apples in a couple beverages.
Wines with 11 percent or less alcohol are generally considered low-alcohol wines, and the wines at Oyster River range between 7 and 13 percent.

At 11 percent alcohol, the Morphos rosé from Oyster River Winegrowers in Warren has more alcohol that other Maine wines but is still considered low-alcohol. It is also a vegan wine. Photo courtesy of Oyster River

“All our wines are wild fermented,” said Brian Smith, owner of Oyster River. “We don’t add commercial yeast. We don’t filter anything. And where the vegan part really comes in is we don’t use any fining agents.”

The trend toward pairing low-alcohol wines with lighter food is likely connected to the growing prominence of vegetarian food, as reflected by restaurant menus listing more vegetables, beans and grains. There’s a bit of a historical precedent, too: Early on, vegetarianism was a part of the temperance movement, best known for its counsel against intoxicating drink. Some supporters of the early 19th-century movement, in Maine and elsewhere, also advocated for abstinence from animal-based foods, as part of the movement’s wider health reform messages.

Today, Bluet and RAS sell some wine locally but concentrate on marketing outside of Maine. Oyster River sells out of state, too, and also opens its tasting room from Memorial Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. Kegs of Oyster River wine are often on tap at Flight Deck Brewing in Brunswick and Oxbow Brewing Co. in Portland.

With Bluet’s low-alcohol, vegan wine now available at Trader Joe’s and high-end restaurants from Portland to Los Angeles, “the proof of concept has come over the last year,” Terrien said. “The nation wants this.”

Turns out, whether we’re talking politics or wine: as Maine goes, so goes the nation. I’ll toast to that.

Avery Yale Kamila is a food writer who lives in Portland. She can be reached at avery.kamila@gmail.com.