As winter welcomes many wine lovers and foodies to Colorado’s ski towns for skiing, boarding, and snowmobiling, and the tipples and trends of après-ski, spring and summer in the Rockies lure visitors to the mountains with hiking, biking, rafting, horseback and edgy adventure tours.
More recently, many of Colorado’s top mountain resort towns are creating dynamic food fests showcasing world-class wines, spirits, and culinary talent throughout the Rocky Mountains. While Aspen’s Food & Wine Classic may be Colorado’s most prominent wine festival, Vail, Breckenridge, Steamboat, and others delight guests with innovative events and experiences. We’ve rounded up a few favourites.
The Taste of Vail is one of the nation’s premier food and wine festivals,. It runs every spring for four days in the stunning Vail Valley. With spring skiing in full swing, this legendary wine festival features daily signature events, including mountain-top wine tastings held at 3,155m, in-depth wine seminars ranging from wine and caviar pairings to terroir-driven wine tastings and lively discussions.
Vail’s top chefs debut their culinary creations along the charming streets of Vail with “grab and go” gourmet-style samples alongside 50+ wineries, distilleries, and craft brewers. Celebrating over 30 years of food and wine in the epic Vail Valley, the Taste of Vail draws visitors from near and far to experience springtime in the Rockies at one of the nation’s most famous mountain resort towns.
2023 Dates: April 5 – 8
The Classic welcomes international wine and spirits, fun and festive food demonstrations and live music entertainment that stretches from the iconic base of Breck’s Peak 9 to the bustling riverside streets of this epic mountain town. With a fierce focus on local foods (including spicy condiments and gourmet jams and jerky) featured a la carte to the pouring of over 300 wines from around the world, this lively foodie-focused event brings out the best of Breck through creative event experiences.
Tickets are available to jump in as “Winemaker for a Day” with a wine blending seminar based on barrel samples to joining a “Wine and Wildflowers Hike” (culminating in a 3-course paired lunch). The posh “Breckenridge Uncorked Dinner Series” features multi-course winemaker dinners hosted at some of the town’s most upscale restaurants. And yet, the laid-back, mountain casual vibe offers everyday access to industry experts ranging from Master Sommeliers to top winemakers, distillers, and glassware experts.
2023 Dates: August 24 – 26
The Steamboat Food & Wine Festival
Steamboat delivers a distinctly Western food and wine festival experience from events like “Bubbles, Bourbon and Burgers” to “Caviar Surf & Turf” and multi-course winemaker dinners at expansive mountain ranches. Taking full advantage of the festival’s location, guests are encouraged to explore this out-of-pocket Colorado gem through hands-on fly-fishing experiences, mountain biking, hikes and backcountry horseback riding.
In between there are focused wine and food tastings, film screenings, innovative seminars, chef dinners, cocktail courses and the Grand Tasting event held at the base of Steamboat Mountain.
2023 Dates: September 28 – October 1