There’s More to a New England Autumn Than the Trees

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Fall is a great time to be in New England: the crisp autumn days, the clear blue skies, and the trees decked out in those glorious reds, oranges and golds.  Despite moving here for all of those reasons, I, unlike the hundreds of people who trek north each Fall for long weekends in Vermont, New Hampshire or Maine, haven’t really taken advantage of all New England has to offer.  Until now.  I am officially declaring that this Fall I am turning over a new leaf  ~ preferably a red one ~ beginning next weekend with a trip to the Vermont Life Wine & Harvest Festival.

Saturday morning should find me heading two hours north to the Mount Snow Valley in southern Vermont for a day-long celebration of all things locavore and locapour, set amid the lush New England countryside.

First stop will be Jacksonville and the “Indigenous Vermonter Breakfast,” which is being served until 11; a plus, as leaf turning doesn’t include hitting the road at the crack of dawn.  I’m not exactly sure what is included in said breakfast, but given that it’s sponsored by Vermont Smoke & Cure, I anticipate an abundance of local hams and sausages, and, of course, the pièce de résistance, Vermont Maple Syrup.  Yum!  As Winnie the Pooh would say, “I have a rumbly in my tumbly” just thinking about it.

After breakfast it’s a short jaunt down the road to Wilmington to work off as many of those breakfast calories as possible touring the Festival grounds.  Sponsored by Vermont Life magazine, the festival is billed as the state’s “Official Wine and Food Festival.”  Now in it’s second year, the festival features wines produced by many of the state’s 20+ wineries, as well as local foods, crafts, music and cooking demonstrations by Vermont chefs.  Later in the afternoon, the nearby Inn at Sawmill Farm is hosting a wine and cheese pairing featuring the wines of Shelburne Farms Vineyards.

At this point, I’ll likely be pointing the car south and heading home, but for those interested in making a night – or a weekend – of it, five local restaurants are hosting Vermont Wine Pairing Dinners.  Ranging between $100 and $120 per person, the dinners feature 3-5 courses paired with carefully selected local wines.

A weekend pass costs $40 and will get you into the Vermont Bluegrass BBQ which kicks off the festival on Friday evening, and into the Festival grounds on both Saturday and Sunday. One-day passes to the BBQ and festival grounds can be purchased for $15.  The Indigenous Vermonter Breakfasts (Saturday and Sunday) and the Vermont Wine & Cheese Reception and the Wine Pairing Dinners (Saturday) require separate admission.

For full details, including links to pre-purchase tickets to any or all of the events, check out the festival website.

This entry was posted on September 20, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Festivals, local wines, Locapour, locavore, Marguerite Barrett, New England, Vermont, Vermont Life Wine & Harvest Festival, Win(e)ding Roads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.