Snowmass Wine Festival marks 24 years of wine for a cause

For its 24th year, the Rotary Club of Snowmass Village will present the Snowmass Wine Festival’s “Grand Tasting” from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 19, under the tents at the Snowmass Town Park. 

Doors open at 1 p.m., with the tasting’s last call at 4:30 p.m.

“It’s very unique. It’s very reasonably priced. The quality of wines is amazing. You get to talk to a lot of vintners,” Barbara Bakios-Wickes, longtime wine lead for the festival and founder of Sundance Liquor & Gifts, said. 

This year’s festival will feature 38 vintners and distributors of wines, seven spirit companies and 22 restaurants providing tastings, along with a silent auction and live music by DJ Boogie Down Lights & Sound. All proceeds go to the Rotary Club of Snowmass Village for scholarships and local and international grants. 

“It’s a fundraiser for the Snowmass Rotary, so it’s a win-win all around,” Bakios-Wickes said. “It’s 100% volunteer and it makes such a difference. I don’t know anywhere in the state where you could go and pay $135 for the quality of wine and food that will be at this event and then help wonderful causes locally.” 

A few vintners for 2026 include JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery, Rombauer Vineyards, Barlow Vineyards, Jackson Family Wines, Obsidian Wine Co. Gemstone Vineyard and Arietta.

“There are some beautiful wine bargains at this event,” Bakios-Wickes said. “There’s mainstream wineries and very unusual wineries that you won’t see at most wine festivals. It’s an invitation-only event (for wineries) and many wine festivals are not like this. I try the wines first before they are allowed in the festival.”

The silent auction will feature a coveted print from Rainy Day Designs, along with stays at hotels including the St. Regis and Hotel Jerome.

Martha O’Keefe, one of the festival chairs, and Bakios-Wickes have worked at the festival for 22 years and have been instrumental in making the festival what it is today — bringing in the vintners and restaurants involved and expanding the auctions. 

Last year, the festival began a tradition of recruiting the Basalt Boosters, from the Basalt High School Athletic Booster club, which include football players from the Basalt Longhorns.

“This is a unique avenue. We bring in the Basalt Booster, high school football players, to help clean up, and we give them a donation — there’s also Rotarians doing it — so they break everything down. Last year was our first year doing this, and it worked out really well,” O’Keefe said.

Last year, the event raised more than $200,000. Fundraising from the all-volunteer festival supports international Rotary grants, vocational programs in Basalt, Aspen and Carbondale, town cleanup, a Thanksgiving potluck dinner and about 27 local community nonprofits that include Aspen Public Radio, Ascendigo, Youth Zone and Focus Kids. The festival also funds a grant that stocks books in the school vending machine at Basalt Elementary School.

A sold-out four-course dinner at Viceroy Snowmass will also feature California-themed cuisine, prepared by Chef Matt Zubrod, paired with an exclusive wine selection and a live auction. 

Tickets for the Grand Tasting are $135 at snowmasswinefestival.com or at Sundance Liquor & Gifts. The price goes up to $150 at the door. The festival is for ages 21 and older.