With the enthusiastic good intentions and attention to detail we bring to everything we try, we hosted our first Winterfest last Saturday. Ok, in hindsight, we should have Googled “winterfest” to learn that it wasn’t the most unique name for an event as it yields some12 million results, and we should have much sooner understood that El Nino means the typical blanket of snow which covers Maine in February could be elsewhere. In the grand scheme, minor details which none of our guests or friends seemed to mind. In fact, the energy around the winery was great. While everyone adored Lawrence’s fabulous brunch buffet and the Chris Humphrey Band’s tunes, guests seemed to find favorites, be it sledding, skating, horse-drawn wagon rides, snow-shoeing, food & wine pairings, barrel samples, or Lani’s treats and hot cocoa. One family went on the horse-drawn wagon ride three times because their son loved it. One gentleman so enjoyed the food and wine pairings’ foods, he gobbled through the food before we could pour his wine pairings. (We gave him more.) One family snow-shoed up to the trail to the blueberry barren and were thrilled with the reward of the fabulous view. Jeff was entertained by RayRay’s greeter style. Jasie’s grandparents enjoyed the music for hours. Kids loved the sledding and crashing into the hay bales.  

My highlights: the generosity of our guests who brought clothes and food for us to donate to people in need; being behind the tasting bar with Lani and Jasie; the fabulous barber shop quartet; and having the happy woman tell Lani and me that she had a wonderful time. She had gone skating for the first time in 40 years because this seemed like a friendly place to try it again.

All said, it may not have been unique according to Google, but it was special for us.

Our friend Joe Corrado captured a few of the highlights of the day in photographs. Enjoy them at http://lincolnvillemaine.com/images/stories/Cellardoor_Winterfest_2010/index.html

Bettina