Susan Matsubara, left, and Anna Dickens navigated the Race for the Merlot course during the 2010 Kentucky Wine and Vine Festival. (Photo by Jonathan Kleppinger) |
The ninth annual Kentucky Wine and Vine Festival will take over downtown Nicholasville May 13-14.
This year’s event will feature a black-tie affair on Friday night with the Wine and Dine Gala set to begin at 7 p.m.
“We are going to do it downtown at the lot, the area where we have the festival,” Nicholasville Now director Tonya Coleman said. “We are planning on bringing a vintner in from California, and everyone who comes to the gala will have a chance for a one-on-one discussion with the vintner.”
Also making its return will be the Kentucky Wine Country Bus Tour on Friday, May 13. For $65, festival attendees can travel to three area wineries, including Talon Winery in Lexington and Acres of Land Winery in Madison County. The bus tour will begin at 8:30 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m.
According to Nicholasville Now’s website, the trip includes a Kentucky Wine and Vine tote bag with goodies, lunch and all wine tastings with snacks. During the tour, guests will be educated with the Vintage Kentucky: The Vine to Wine Experience Video Production.
The weekend will also feature the amateur wine competition, Coleman said.
“It’s for people who make their own wine at home,” she said. “It’s not open to commercial wineries, so it would be like you going down and making your own wine.”
First-, second- and third-place winners will receive gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, Coleman said.
Coleman said that the event typically draws more than 100 bottles of wine made by amateurs.
Saturday’s event is highlighted by the wine tents, Coleman said. It will include a tent for Kentucky wines and a tent for domestic and international wines.
For $20, festival-goers over the legal drinking age will be able to sample the many different wines available. The wine tents open at noon and remain open until 7 p.m. Saturday’s event will also feature arts and craft vendors, with those tents opening at 10 a.m. and remaining open until 7 p.m.
Other events scheduled for Saturday include Wine School 101, which will focus on the rising popularity of blending, and the Run for the Merlot, a light-hearted race open to all festival-goers willing to run the gauntlet. Coleman said that the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau will also be at the festival.
“They will come and set up their booth this year, and they’re going to do photographs and hand out novelty items, and they’ll do a drawing for the 2012 Kentucky Derby,” she said.
The Wine and Vine Festival wouldn’t be complete without the music, and this year’s entertainers include The Honey Creek Stompers, Juggernaut Jug Band and Good Intentions Paving Co.
For more information on the 2011 Kentucky Wine and Vine Festival, visit www.nicholasvillenow.org.
