Savage Oakes Vineyard and Winery

Cantina e Vini

We are Elmer and Holly Savage. Along with our two sons, we operate Barrett Hill Farm in Union, Maine. Elmer began farming here in 1985 when the farm was purchased by his parents. Since then, the farm has been home to a flock of sheep as well as Belted Galloway cattle. Today the sheep are gone, but the cattle remain. In 2000, we purchased the 95 acre farm from Elmer's parents and began planning for its future. The desire to preserve the farming tradition here needed to coexist with the financial realities of agriculture. The farm's blueberry fields offered great potential, but the lack of profitability for blueberry growers gave us incentive to look for possible value added products for our crop. We began to explore some of the great blueberry wines being produced. This soon led to the possibility of growing grapes as well. We were impressed by the opportunity to expand into this niche market. We explored vineyards and wineries near and far, and found people willing to help around every corner. In 2002 we planted the first two acres of our vineyard. Since that time, we have expanded to nearly four acres with ten varieties of grapes. We have spent the past fourteen years growing our vineyard from the ground up and advancing our wine making from hobby level to small scale commercial production. 2016 marks our eleventh vintage. We invite you to follow our progress as we continue to grow. Thanks for visiting.

At Savage Oakes Vineyard and Winery we currently grow ten varieties of cold hardy hybrid wine grapes. We planted the first block of four varieties on two acres in 2002. During the next three seasons we expanded to almost four acres with approximately 1800 vines. The site on which the vineyard is located provides an ideal location for grape production. The south-facing sloping hillside catches long hours of sunshine essential for ripening, while the ever-present breezes maintain the airflow needed for vine health and frost protection.