Sun Peaks Winter Festival of Wine

There’s something about a picturesque alpine village setting that makes wine taste even better. This goes double in the wintertime. Nothing sets up an evening of fine wines and food pairings like a day on the slopes. The annual Winter Festival of Wine at Sun Peaks Resort has built itself around this successful formula. Formerly known as the Icewine Festival, the event broadened its focus in 2010, becoming the Winter Festival of Wine.

The 2011 edition, which takes place Jan. 15-23, will present 20 different events, ranging from casual parties to more serious sip-and-swish seminars. New this year is the Farm-to-Fork Kick-off evening on Jan. 15, a wine-tasting reception featuring food sourced from regional suppliers, set to a live band playing unplugged Rolling Stones covers.

The intimacy of the Sun Peaks setting plays a key role in the festival’s signature event, the Sun Peaks Westjet Progressive Wine Tasting on Friday, Jan. 21. It's a village-wide tour with tasting stations from 20 different wineries and a variety of live music offerings, all for the affordable price tag of $60.

Go a step further and reserve the Progressive Package, which offers two tickets to the Progressive wine tasting event and two tickets to another festival event of your choice, as well as one night accommodation, starting at $160 per person. For more info on festival packages and events, call 1-877-212-7107 or visit sunpeaksresort.com.