Leaders in the industry are working to ensure that future thanks to a cross section of professionals. Their contributions range among production, curation, resource-sharing, and innovation, resulting in wines as bold as they are delicious. The wines from this trajectory highlight labrusca, a different Vitis species that has invigorated drinkers, particularly in North America.

For evidence of a groundswell shift in American winemaking, you can look at a number of excellent producers in the country, but the East Coast has a spark, from Maine to North Carolina. The most exciting wineries are defining what it means to make regional, terroir-driven American wines.

Jahdé Marley took note of this sea change. A New York portfolio manager in wine and spirits sales, she and close colleagues, a cohort of renowned sommeliers, sales reps, and producers, took a road trip to explore wineries like NOK Vino in New Hampshire, Camuna Cellars in Pennsylvania, and R.A.S. Wines in Maine—all producing wine in this manner. They found the wines to be “lively, lighthearted with playfulness. Some are lower in alcohol, higher acid. They even look electric and fun,” Marley says of the striking range of bluish reds, deep rose hues, blush pinks, and golden yellows.