Toasting to 10 Years of the Killington Wine Festival
Posted on June 01, 2011
The Killington Wine Festival will celebrate its tenth anniversary July 22-24, 2011, with added events and expanded food & wine offerings. Gaining attention each year since its inception, the event annually attracts hundreds of wine and food lovers to the Green Mountains of Vermont in the summer. Over the course of the weekend, more than 40 wineries & distributors will pour a record 500 unique bottles of wines, while area restaurants and artisan food companies will offer a bounty of wine-friendly foods.
The Festival kicks off Friday evening with an exciting lineup of events at the Killington Grand Hotel. At the Estate Wine Tasting, a collection of estate and reserve wines will be poured by the vintners who made them. The exclusive tasting is limited to the first 100 persons and offers wine enthusiasts a chance to taste and learn about the finest wines of the weekend. Following the Estate Tasting, The “Pop Goes the Cork” Wine Party will make its debut, offering live entertainment, dancing, hors d’ oeuvres and an extensive wine bar.
Saturday’s big event, The Grand Tasting at 4241’, will be moved to a spacious, open air tent at the base of Killington Mountain. The new venue for the most anticipated event of the weekend will provide additional room for expanded wine and specialty food selections. Traditionally, the Grand Tasting has been held at 4241’ elevation at the lodge on Killington Peak. This year, however, the Killington Wine Festival is celebrating Killington Resort’s plan for a new peak lodge, part of their $6.5 million budget for improvements in 2011-12. The new lodge, anticipated to open Christmas of 2012, will become the highest gondola-served restaurant in eastern North America and a spectacular venue for future events. In lieu of holding the festival at the peak, attendees will be offered a complimentary ride on the K1 gondola to take in mountain views and toast goodbye to the current peak lodge.
The Wine Festival weekend wraps up with two relaxing Sunday events - A Bubbly Brunch at Wally’s American Grill and the Wine and Nine Golf Scramble at Green Mountain National Golf Course. Always a sell-out event, the Wine and Nine offers golfers of all abilities a chance to play a lighthearted round of golf on Vermont’s #1 Public Golf Course before drawing the weekend to a close.
In addition to these events, on Friday and Saturday evenings several of Killington’s most discerning restaurants will be holding special culinary events ranging from wine samplings to multi-course gourmet wine dinners. Many of the dinners are accompanied by special guests from the people behind the wines poured over the weekend. Space is limited at these events and early reservations are encouraged.
For the first time, a Wine Festival Patron Ticket will be offered to attendees, saving money for those who plan to attend both the Estate and Grand Tastings. The patron ticket also allows VIP early admission to the Grand Tasting on Saturday.
The Killington Wine Festival is produced by the Killington Chamber of Commerce with support of wine distributor members, including Baker Distributing, Calmont Distributing, Farrell Distributing, G. Housen and Vermont Wine Merchants. Many Killington Chamber of Commerce lodging members extend affordable and customized Wine Festival packages to help with planning a weekend getaway. For more information about weekend events, or to buy tickets to the Tenth Annual Killington Wine Festival, visit www.killingtonchamber.com or call (800) 337-1928.