After two years of cancellations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Taste of Vail finally got to celebrate its 30th anniversary this spring — and what a celebration it was.
This beloved annual festival highlights the best in food and drink, with winemakers from all over North America and chefs from the Vail Valley sharing their most delicious wines and creative dishes.
With four days of tastings, seminars and other events, there was a lot to do and see this past weekend at the festival. Below, a few of our favorite experiences at Taste of Vail.
The festivities may be over for this year, but it’s never too early to start planning a road trip for next year. Taste of Vail is typically held in early April — bookmark the festival’s website for updates and more information.
The Mountain Top Tasting
One of the festival’s signature events is the Mountain Top Tasting, held at 10,350 feet above sea level on the ski slopes. There were so many delicious wines and foods to sample, but festival-goers really loved these duck birria tacos from the personal chef company Eat Dank Food — the line was long, but totally worth it for this savory taco.
Learning About Caviar
As someone who’d never tried caviar before, I was intrigued to learn more (and taste!) this delicacy. At a seminar hosted by Sturia Caviar and Champagne Tribaut, I learned all about the world of caviar, from sturgeon farming in France all the way through to the innovative ways that chefs are incorporating caviar into their menus.
Rosé All Day
There’s a reason people love rosé: it’s ridiculously delicious. And at this very popular tasting, there were hundreds of rosés to sip, sample and learn about.
Exploring Colorado Wine
Doug Caskey and Kyle Schlachter from the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board, plus Kevin Webber from Carboy Winery, hosted a fascinating talk about the history, development and future of Colorado’s wine industry.
Grand Tasting
Taste of Vail culminated with what was essentially a big, classy party at The Hythe — wineries brought out some of their finest bottles and Vail chefs went all-out with their dishes for the Grand Tasting.
