Food alert! Chamber, magazine join forces for eats, vino imbibery, merriment

By STEPHANIE M. PETERS Herald Staff

For some time, the staff at the Mount Snow Chamber of Commerce and Vermont Life magazine had kicked around the idea of starting up a new Vermont festival focusing on native food and wine.

Yet, while one lacked the support of a well-known sponsor, the other knew it would need help with the on-the-ground organization and planning.

When they found each other, it wasn’t so much serendipity as it was the result of a long search, but the product of this partnership — this weekend’s Vermont Life Wine & Harvest Festival — could be the perfect combination of the best the state has to offer in food, wine and the arts.

In addition, Mount Snow Chamber of Commerce Director Laura Sibilia hopes it will “highlight the rich uniqueness and ingenuity of Vermont producers and artisans,” she said. Although set in southern Vermont at the intersection of routes 9E and 100S in Wilmington, with additional off-site dinners and a wine and cheese pairing in Dover and Whitingham, Sibilia said her organization worked hard to sign up vendors, musicians and artists from up and down the state.

“We’ve had tremendous response and enthusiasm among the vendors,” she said, adding that she’s already confident it will continue to grow in coming years.

The weekend begins Friday with a Welcome to Vermont Bluegrass Party and barbecue from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Matterhorn Inn in West Dover.

It continues at 10 a.m. Saturday at the main festival grounds in Wilmington, where the grounds will be filled with specialty foods, wine tastings, crafts, entertainment and demonstrations. Included in the entertainment that will perform throughout the day are Fanfare, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra’s Brass Trio, the Richard Mayer Group and the Will Patton Trio. Participatory demonstrations running throughout the day include Arboreal Habitats cider press and rock wall climbing and an inflatable obstacle course sponsored by the Vermont National Guard. Sunday will offer much of the same on the festival grounds, as well as an Indigenous Vermonters Breakfast hosted by Vermont Smoke and Cure.

While the breakfast name is more an inside joke, Sibilia said, just about all of what’s to be served will be native to the state.

Vermont Life will also be present “in a big way,” with Editor Mary Hegarty Nowlan, photographers and reporters on hand who will be giving talks, signing books and jotting down their own observations, which could be fodder for promoting the event in the magazine next year, according to advertising director Gerianne Smart.

Smart, along with publisher Tom Kelly, were two of the biggest proponents of the magazine becoming involved in some sort of effort. In July 2007, the magazine did a survey of Vermont Life readership that found about 95 percent of readers were self-described “foodies,” essentially people with a passion for and a refined interest in food.

As if to prove Vermont Life’s survey correct, three of the four Vermont Wine pairing dinners also planned Saturday night as part of the festivities have already sold out. Seats at the dinner hosted by Harriman’s Restaurant at the Grand Summit Resort and Conference Center are still available by reservation, as are tickets to the breakfast.

Weekend passes, which include admission to the Matterhorn Inn on Friday, the fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday, and Sunday’s breakfast, can still be purchased online for $40 for adults, and $25 for children 12 and under. Or, attendees can opt for a la carte tickets at the door. Those will run $10/$7 for Friday night’s barbecue, $10/$5 for one-day admission to the fairgrounds and $11 for Sunday’s breakfast.

Even with the potential for rain in the forecast, Sibilia said it’s shaping up to be a successful weekend.

“Our local inns are reporting that we have a number of folks coming in from out of state,” she said. “And we’re getting a lot of interest from up and down the state.”

Contact Stephanie M. Peters at stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com.