Killington Wine Festival a financial success

The Killington Wine Festival, a fundraiser for the Killington Pico Area Association (KPAA), was held July 14-16. The weekend began with an estate Tasting at the Peak with over 200 guests sampling wine from 20 various wineries and distilleries. The event also was the public debut of the Killington Valley Initiative with Mike Solimano and Rutland’s Mayor Allaire showing support.

“The food was amazing and the varieties of wine made the night a success. I will definitely come back next year,” said guest Lori McClallen.

“We were immediately impressed from our greeting at registration to the wide range of wines, food, and entertainment. We definitely plan on attending for years ahead!” said Rutland resident Todd Stratton.

Saturday, at the VIP and grand tasting, over 25 wineries and 10 vendors were represented. The festival had a whole new look with new padding for walking, a grassy area, music, and photo booth for fun and silly pictures with friends.

“It was nice to walk around the event and see smiles and people just having a good time with each other. The event felt relaxed and a fun place to be! It made me feel good because of the work that goes into an event like this,” said Alexis King, KPAA membership director. The event was in line with past years with over 650 participants. Revenue for the event increased from 2016, and KPAA continues to explore more opportunities to make the event successful financially and also for the surrounding businesses.

The event itself takes many hours of planning, communication with wineries and vendors, endless amount of detail work, and committing volunteers. The planning begins as early as January; however, a new wine festival committee has been formed to begin to work on next year’s event with leadership from Alexis King and Kim Peters, Director of KPAA.

“Alexis and I came into the tail end of planning this event, and our goal was simple: increase revenue and increase the amount of people attending the event! By doing this, more visitors are in Killington. We accomplished this, and we look forward to next year,” said Peters.

The event would not be possible without the involvement from the surrounding area restaurants, support from lodging partners, and the accommodating host of the event: Killington Resort.

Photo by Chandler Burgess

A happy vibe was the most notable flavor of the Killington Wine Festival, with wine pouring freely and a good time had by all.