Parsons Family Winery, Maine

On our way home from motorcycling up Mount Washington in New Hampshire, we stopped in Kittery to grab some lunch and some new jeans for Bob. A sign right on the Mall Road pointed to the Parsons Family Winery, only 7 miles away. Once we'd finished with our chores, we hopped on the bike and followed the signs!

The Parsons Family Winery was founded in September 1996, and comes from a family with 300 years of roots in Maine Hard Cider. Until recently they got their apples from Chick Orchards, of Cask & Hive Winery fame, but Chick is being forced to shut down their orchard business. Parsons' second choice is now also shutting down as well, causing the winery to scramble for a new supplier of apples. This is yet another result of our over-eager government regulators helping famers with new laws.

Parsons has four apple wines available. The first, Baldwin, is aged in oak barrels. It is dry, with a delicious flavor and smooth finish. Cortland, the second, is our favorite. This is a light, spicy wine, like a Riesling, with only a hint of apple flavor.

Next, McIntosh is light and fruity, and would appeal to White Zinfandel drinkers. It has a hint of spiciness to it as well. Northern Spy is more like a late harvest riesling, with flavors of cinammon and tartness to it.

The fruit wines at Parsons are created with juice brought in from the west coast. The peach was out of stock, so we tried the pear, raspberry, and blueberry.

The pear was light and delicate, with a hint of pear in its finish. Quite delicious for with a salad or light meal. The raspberry was very good - not a syrupy sweet dessert wine, this had a good amount of tartness to it, and would hold up well against chocolate. The blueberry was only slightly tannic, with light blueberry flavor. Blueberries are exceptionally high in antioxidants. With all the talk about antioxidants in the medical news, this is a fine wine to drink every day, to keep you healthy!

With this winery literally only minutes away from the Kittery Mall road, be sure to stop by if you're ever in Kittery doing some shopping or dining!

Parsons Family Winery Photos

NOTE: The Parsons Family Winery has ceased to exist.

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