Bluet

Bluet, a wild blueberry wine brand, was founded by Eric Martin and Michael Terrien, childhood friends who grew up in Maine and reunited as young adults in California. In California, Michael worked as a winemaker and Eric would help out seasonally, sorting and stomping the grapes. During subsequent visits to Maine, Michael began to see Maine’s iconic fruit – the wild blueberry – through a winemaker’s eyes. He began experimenting and eventually teamed up with Eric to release the first batch of Bluet in 2015.

Michael and Eric are passionate not only about the quality and Maine roots of their product, but also about its potential to support wild blueberry farmers in Maine. With the price of the fruit dropping significantly over the past years, fresh market sales and value add products represent the highest earning potential for growers. The amount of blueberries needed to make blueberry wine is significant – tens of thousands of pounds per year – which adds a lot of value to the crop and helps the state’s economy. It helps growers get a good return on their berries and helps spread the unique cultural story of Maine’s wild blueberries to new consumers in new places. Bluet is not just focused on local sales – they have their sights set on national distribution and are using their wine industry connections to make that happen.