2 min read

Amy Nevins is excited about adding a bistro to her Belgrade business, The Cork & Cow, in the next couple of weeks.

The Bistro at The Cork & Cow at 47 Main St. will grace the second floor of the business, which features specialties including fine wines, craft beer, artisanal cheeses, meats, charcuterie and espresso drinks.

“The bistro is going to be a wine bar, essentially, and will have eight wines that we’ll sell by the glass,” Nevins said Thursday. “We’ll also offer cheese plates and charcuterie plates, but not a full meal.”

Nevins, 51, opened the first-floor business in the middle of last year, after her husband, Robert, 52, renovated the space. He also renovated the second floor.

Artisanal cheeses and meats for sale Friday at The Cork & Cow. at 47 Main St. in Belgrade. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)

The business has free wine tastings set for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursdays featuring four or five varieties. The retail shop offers unique gifts, including charcuterie boards, T-shirts and hats bearing the business logo, flasks, Haven’s chocolates and local jams.

Patrons may purchase charcuterie boards all made up or they can purchase everything they need to build one and do it at home.

Advertisement

A former physical therapist for 25 years who grew up in Belgrade, Nevins created her business later in life as a sort of “passion project.” She and her husband, who grew up in Manchester, also have children.

“This was kind of a midlife change, a hard right turn career change,” she said. “Obviously, I’d always enjoyed wine and cheeses. I’d always made charcuterie boards at home.”

The couple moved out of Maine for college and lived in Colorado, Massachusetts, Hawaii and California before returning home.

Amy Nevins, owner of The Cork & Cow, stands between aisles of wine Friday at her store at 47 Main St.
in Belgrade. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)

The turn-of the-century building they converted into the business is a former one-room schoolhouse near the corner of Main and School streets. It housed various entities over the years, including a Grange hall, clubhouse, dance studio and day care and physical therapy businesses.

Across the street from the Sunset Grill, The Cork & Cow is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week during winter. Nevins said she expects the bistro on the second floor will have abbreviated hours at first.

Last summer was busy and fun, she said, and people gave them a great reception.

“We both loved it and we looked forward to getting to know more people in the community,” she said. “We had a great summer, so we’re really feeling positive about it overall.”

Amy Calder covers Waterville, including city government, for the Morning Sentinel and writes a column, “Reporting Aside,” which appears Sundays in the Sentinel and Kennebec Journal. She has worked...

Join the Conversation

Please your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.