There are a million and one things we love about summer, but the fantastic summer wine festivals all over the country are definitely high on our list. On top of the great wine, there are usually interesting special guests, educational seminars and of course, yummy food.
You can undoubtedly find a wine festival near you, but here are 3 of our favorites happening this summer:
Crested Butte Wine & Food Festival – Crested Butte, Colorado
July 11 – 14: Crested Butte is an amazing mountain community and it’s a beautiful backdrop for this July wine festival. Attend the Grand Tasting Event where more than 250 wines from around the world will be showcased, or check out one of their many seminars or events – we’d recommend the six course champagne brunch or the seminar, “In Search of Perfect Pairings.” They also offer a free shuttle that runs through the town, so you can drink to your heart’s content knowing you’ve got a reliable DD.
Stowe Wine & Food Classic – Stowe, Vermont
June 21 – 23: This is the 15th year of this annual event, held at the Trapp Family Lodge, a gorgeous resort in the mountains above the village of Stowe. In addition to being heaven for wine drinkers, all of the proceeds from the event will benefit Copley Hospital and the Vermont Food Bank. There’s a kick-off party on the 21st, a gala and auction on the 22nd, and an amazing grand tasting on the 23rd. Wine seminars and cooking demos will also happen throughout the day on the 23rd.
Vintage Virginia Wine and Food Festival – Centreville, Virginia
June 1 – 2: The 32nd Vintage Virginia Wine & Food Festival has a whole lot of food (food trucks, hell yeah), musical entertainment, and of course, wine. American wine production first started in the 17th century in Virginia, and it has since become the 5th largest wine producing state in the U.S. Our favorite part of this event is the Top 5 Tasting Tent – it’s a more relaxed wine tasting where you actually get to sit down and have the wine poured for you. Participating wineries choose up to five of their top wines to be included and some send wines that they may not be pouring at their main festival location. A new wine is poured every 6 minutes and a new winery is introduced every 20 minutes.