By Jerry LeBlond
Shana Louiselle sips a white wine at a past wine festival, under the tent at Killington Grand Hotel.
July 15-17 — KILLINGTON — The Killington Wine Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary July 15-17 with three days of specialty wine tasting events. This signature event attracts more and more wine and food enthusiasts to Killington each year.
Throughout the weekend, representatives from 30 wineries and distributors pour hundreds of wines and spirits from around the world. The Killington Wine Festival boasts one of the widest selections of wine available for tasting in New England. Patrons will also sample a bounty of wine-paired food prepared by area restaurants and specialty Vermont producers.
The event kicks-off Friday evening at 4,241-feet with the Estate Wine Tasting at the Killington Resort Peak Lodge. Select wineries will be offering samples from their collections of estate and reserve wines. Representatives will be on-hand to discuss each wine and educate attendees about the nuances of the fine wines being sampled. Tickets to the Estate Tasting are limited with only 200 tickets available.
The Killington Wine Trail, running concurrently and following with the Estate Tasting, will showcase 13 local establishments offering a special wine or food and wine pairing. Participating restaurants include: Killington Art Garage, Birch Ridge Inn, Charity’s Restaurant, Chef Claude’s Choices, the Foundry at Summit Pond, The Garlic, Inn at Long Trail, Liquid Art, Lookout Tavern, Killington Mountain Lodge, Outback Pizza, Peppino’s Ristorante, and Preston’s at the Killington Grand. (The wine trail participants are subject to change.)
The signature event of the festival weekend—the Grand Tasting—will be held on Saturday afternoon at the foot of Killington mountain at Killington Resort’s Roaring Brook Umbrella Bar. Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy a seemingly endless variety of wines, Vermont spirits, and local artisanal foods including cheese, chocolates and more. Admission to the event includes tastings, wine-friendly fare provided by the Foundry at Summit Pond, a round-trip scenic gondola ride, signature tote and wine glass.
On Saturday evening, select Killington restaurants will hold culinary events ranging from wine sampling to multi-course gourmet wine dinners. Special guests from the wineries will accompany these dinners to offer interactive discussions on a variety of wine topics. Space is limited.
The three-day event concludes with the Wine and Nine golf outing at nearby Green Mountain National Golf Course located on Barrows Town Road, off Route 100 north of Killington. This is always a sell-out event, so get your tickets early.
For more information, the full schedule of events, or to buy tickets, visit killingtonpico.org or call 802-773-4181.
