Year in Review 2023
In 2023 we celebrated our 13th year of wine, food, and travel experiences in Maine and around the world, our 11th season of highly-rated Wine Sails, and the 6th Annual Portland Wine Week. It was a year packed with excitement, great wine, food, people, and experiences.
It has been an honor and a labor of love to form long-lasting and genuine friendships with our team, customers, and business partners over the years. We feel very honored to be part of an incredible community and industry that supports one another and inspires us all to do our absolute best.
With these new days in the new year, we want to take a look back at 2023 and then give you a glimpse of what's to come in 2024. Thank you for being a part of this journey and allowing us to be part of yours. Cheers to a delicious and bright new year. We are here to help make it awesome!
A Look Back at Wine Wise in 2023
We kicked off the year with Virtual Wine Dinners and celebrated 2 years of our Monthly Community-Driven Sommelier-Curated Wine Club for Greater Portland and Surrounding Communities with 3-bottle and 6-bottle options, and did a whole bunch of private and corporate events including wine sails, wine dinners, and wine tastings, in-home, in-office, on land, and at sea.
Held our first Semi-Annual Winter Soirée for 6-month 6-bottle Wine Club members.
Sponsored the Portland Food Map Pocket Guide (printed), "A Comprehensive to Portland's Food Scene."
In the Fall and Winter months, Wine Dinners and Bourbon Tastings with the Falmouth Country Club culinary teams and guest chefs were delicious and fun ways for us to see each other in person.
We worked with wonderful local chefs to develop awesome recipes for our curated wine offerings for wine club members and expanded our blog content.
In May, we took an awesome group of customers on our annual Small-Group Trip to Tuscany & Cinque Terre.
With the help of Partner Sponsor, Bangor Savings, and many other generous and community-focused sponsors, we presented the 6th Annual Portland Wine Week, June 12 – 18, 2023, showcasing and celebrating the high caliber of small independent restaurants, sommeliers, and chefs in the city of Portland.
Our summer Semi-Annual Wine Club Soirée, Sponsored by Land Rover Scarborough, took place in June at Tipo with delicious food, wine, and visiting winemakers.
90 magnificent Wine Sails, Wine & Oyster Sails, and Chef Series Wine & Food Sails were spent with our wonderful team, customers, chef partners, oyster shuckers, Captain, and crew.
We expanded our selection of quality-focused wines in Explorer, Elevated, Premium, and Super Premium levels with delivery to 11 cities and towns around Portland.
We ended the year on a very high note by being awarded the Maine Office of Tourism's Special Event Marketing Grant, for Portland Wine Week, June 10-16, 2024. This grant will help us make great strides in our mission to continue to elevate awareness of Portland’s world-class independent restaurants, chefs, and sommeliers on a national level. Be sure to get your tickets as events are announced (more on this below.)
