By Maralyn D. Hill, The Epicurean Explorer

Cellardoor Winery

During 2009, I was fortunate to meet Bettina Doulton, owner and operator of Cellardoor Winery, located between Rockland and Camden, Maine. In 2007, Bettina purchased a 68-acre farm with 200-year-old buildings and now is well on her way to making a name for herself in the wine business. For me in 2009, to see what she had implemented with Cellardoor and what she had planned was amazing. Now, I’ll have time to meet her again at the Kennebunkport Festival 2012.

When I first met Bettina in 2007, I felt that she deserved an in-depth interview at that time, but it takes more than just two years to grow the business of a winery. Now, passing the five-year mark, she is still moving forward successfully.

Maralyn D. Hill: What inspired you to give up your longtime career, managing mutual funds, to owning a winery?

Bettina: I had loved my time at Fidelity, with a constant learning curve and opportunity to bounce ideas around with smart, interesting people. But I felt an incredible need to try something new and change gears after I had cancer. It’s hard to explain–but simply, my head was in a different place.

Winemaker Bettina Doulton

I always wanted to run a small business. As an investor, I analyzed other people’s businesses, but never sat on the other side of the table. So that’s the dream I chased when my cancer treatment was complete.

A friend knew the winery was for sale and off I went to see it. I walked into the barn on a cold day, December 2006, and felt really comfortable. I was inspired to change my life. With no due diligence, no knowledge about how to run a winery or any small business, I jumped into the deep end and started again. A wonderful mentor had dared me with his own life-changing bet and said, “I blew up my life, started again, and am having a blast. What are you going to do?” I followed suit.

Maralyn D. Hill:  When you purchased the property in 2007, how did you go about finding the right winemaker?

Bettina: The prior owner, who had started the winery in the late 90s, stayed as winemaker the first two seasons I owned it. He was great bridge, as I got my feet wet with the business.  Then, Aaron Peet and his wife, CC, both Mainers, found me. They were studying winemaking in Washington and came by to introduce themselves and ask about possible work opportunities after graduation. We stayed in touch and they joined Cellardoor in August 2008. I often thank the day they came visiting in 2007.

MDH: Having visited Cellardoor, I saw your obvious teamwork. Could you tell me a little about how you put such a good team together?

Bettina: I am thrilled to see you make this observation. I am really proud of the team here; creating a team atmosphere is a priority every day for me. It may sund overly simplistic, but I have two goals: Create a great environment for the CD team, so they are learning and proud of what they are doing; and beat our guest expectations.

I am constantly learning how to lead the team as well as I can–it’s a humbling effort; some days I feel like I’ve done well, others not so much. As a small company, it’s important that everyone feels a part of what we are doing and willing to help out beyond his or her respective “job description.” I am thrilled when that’s happening without pushback.

In putting the team together, I think it’s a combination of my finding people and people finding Cellardoor. Through that, we’ve ended up with a team that’s passionate about producing great wines and guest experiences.

Cellardoor Winery's Tasting Room

MDH: You also branched out to having a restaurant and cooking classes. How did this evolve?

Bettina: Everything here is an evolution. The goal is to offer a dense, rich winery experience in mid-coast Maine. Listening to our guests and coming up with our own ideas, we keep expanding what we offer.

Evolution of the food side of things started in 2008, as I started to get my arms around the wine business. We began with offering complimentary food and wine pairings on Sundays, to introduce our guests about how to pair our wines with different types of foods. As people expressed interest in learning more, we introduced cooking classes. Beginning last year, as we received an extension of our winery license, we began offering sandwiches, salads, and cheese plates, which people can enjoy with our wines by the glass. Cellardoor is not a full restaurant. Our offerings allow guests to relax and enjoy views of the vineyard– again, a winery/vineyard experience.

Our cooking classes combine hands-on learning and a served meal, paired with wine, of recipes learned during the hands-on segment.

As we go into this season, our menu will continue to expand.

MDH: What has been your biggest ah-ha moment since owning Cellardoor?

Bettina: I have ah-ha moments every day! Learning something new means there are always ah-ha moments. Recently, the moment that the plan for our “Sniff, Sip & Sample” experience for our second tasting room, the Villa, came together would be a big ah-ha. We are really excited about this and have a plan to make it come together for our guests. Now, we just need to execute.

MDH: What our your goals for the future?

Cellar Winery "Treasure", Blueberry Wine with Maple Syrup

Bettina: Back to the prior goals: Create a great environment for the CD team; and continue to strive to beat guest expectations. For the short, medium and long term, there’s a continuing focus to produce wines we are proud of and that are recognized for being really good, have our vineyard produce a commercial crop for winemaking, and continue to evolve guest experiences as a unique Maine destination.

Long term, my goal is for the core CD team to have an ownership stake in the future of the business.

MDH: How do you see Maine wine progressing in the next five years?

Bettina: The Maine wine industry is developing rapidly. There are now more than 25 licensed wineries in the state. I think the wine trail throughout the State can become a growth element of the tourism economy of Maine. Agri-tourism and farm-to-table trends are all favorable backdrops for this opportunity. We as individual wineries and as an association need to earn visitors’ respect/interest.

For Cellardoor, I hope our wines can be a strong part of the culinary scene that has exploded in Maine over the past 10 years. We need to earn a place at this table.

MDH: Kennebunkport is a good drive from the Rockland/Camden area. Could you tell me about your involvement in Kennebunkport Festival 2012?

Bettina: This will be our third year involved with the Kennebunkport Festival. It has grown each year. Maine Magazine invited us to get involved, having seen some of our events in the mid-coast the prior year and knowing we were interested in having people outside our immediate area know about our wines. Also, they knew our wines had improved.

Last year, we hosted a Tiffany-themed party–guests seemed to enjoy it. This year, we are hosting a larger party with a Maxim’s de Paris theme. It is coming together really well.

Kennebunkport is a decent drive from Lincolnville, but our wines are sold in wine shops in Kennebunkport and in areas south of there. We felt the need to take our wines and our guest experiences to them as an introduction. We met some terrific people at last year’s party and many of them made day trips up to visit us in Lincolnville afterwards.

MDH: Anything else of special interest you would like to include?

Bettina: With “Sniff, Sip & Sample” at the Villa, a rethinking of our tasting notes, and a new class called  Pairings 101, an intro class for food and wine pairings, we are trying to do a better job for our  guests on the food and wine pairing side of things. Again an evolution, but we are passionate about connecting for our guests the world’s food side with the wine world in a way that is fun.

MDH: Thank you, Bettina, I look forward to experiencing the Maxim’s de Paris event.

When you stop at Cellardoor, you may see Bettina doing just about anything from inside to running a tractor. It is worth the visit.

Photos courtesy of Cellardoor Winery