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5 great features of the Aquarium Wine Festival in Denver

As wine festivals go, the Downtown Aquarium Wine Festival in Denver just might be the best combination of activities, great wine, and stellar food in Denver Summer festivals. And, since it occurs on a Saturday afternoon in August, you still have time to see other sights or diversions in the downtown Denver area. Critter central It’s an aquarium with abundant wildlife exhibits, and those animals come out for a meet and greet session during the wine event. You can get up close and personal with snakes, sharks, tortoises, and even armadillos. The trained handlers ensure you are safe and get a dose of the unique history and description of the animal. Vino stations They go about this a little different, with wines from one American region, and one area from around the world. In 2019, the wine tents were equally distributed to include California and Italian wines. As the wine tents are dispersed along the grounds, you can try a food item and then have a chance to linger with a paired wine selection. Incredible sustenance Because the Downtown Aquarium is part of the Landry’s group, those restaurants show up in full force to support the event. Executive chefs and cooking staff are preparing two or three signature dishes as samplers through the event. The high-profile eateries included Morton’s Steakhouse, Landry’s Seafood House, Saltgrass Steak House and even Bubba Gump’s among the options. Meet and greet The wine tents are spread out through the grounds, so you can sample, walk, and sample again. Because the tents are spread out, it offers an opportunity to meet other wine aficionados while you test and compare what was best for your taste and interests. Support a noble cause Every year, the wine fest has a charity, which benefits from the event, and this year it was the American Liver Foundation. Both creating awareness and garnishing funds through the silent auction, this organization targets a disease that is a top-ten killer in every industrial nation.

Neil Wolkodoff

Neil Wolkodoff is a golf and travel writer from Denver, Colorado. He covers golf, dining, activities and accommodations from the luxury and unique perspective. He has even been golfing with goats.

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11 Comments

  1. Taking a look at that first picture, the one with the “stomp it up” card, am I right in thinking that it’s a chance to have a go at treading grapes?

    I’m a big wine fan, having visited a lot of vineyards, but I’ve never actually had a go at treading the grapes. I’m interested to know what it fells like to have the grapes mushing between your toes and also how much effort it takes to press a decent amount of grape juice.

  2. As far as I’m concerned anything involving wine, as long as it isn’t taken too seriously by people tasting and pontificating, makes for a fun event. Though this Denver Festival looks to be real fun. It looks to be a great chance to meet fellow wine lovers. As well as all the wine, food and fun it’s all for a good cause too. Sorry that I can’t make it this year but good luck to the organisers and all those who can get there.

    1. Couldn’t agree more!!!

      Too many people take wine far too seriously. It’s made to be drunk. I can’t be doing with all this rolling it round the glass, suspiciously sniffing it, checking the colour again to see that it’s not turned green with purple spots in the last ten seconds, finally tasting it and then pronouncing that it tastes like black currants or burnt cheese on toast or gooseberries … and then, worst of all, spitting it out,

      No, no, no! Wine’s for the ordinary people to enjoy.

    2. Tony and Sheila, it is a very fun event and definitely not stuffy in any sense. Even the wine ambassadors would give a simple description of the taste of the wine and what it was best used for without extravagant accolades. I think the layout as it was spread out along the nature trail had something to do with the relaxed approach.

    3. I feel that I must put in a word for the wine experts. Life’s too short to waste drinking poor wine. Also when it comes to important occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays, corporate events and weddings it is vital that you get the choice of wine spot on. Often I’ve been extremely grateful to the connoisseurs in the wine industry who have pointed me in the right occasion. I know that some of them can be rather verbose and pretentious on occasions but by and large they perform a valuable function.

    4. Each person working at the specific wine tents was versed in their wine specifics including taste and best pairings. So all you had to do was ask what the wine was best used for, and you received a good answer that would direct sampling.

  3. Sure, everybody’s having a great time with the food, wine, critters and their family and that’s how it should be. It’s great that the event has a different charity every year. It makes it a better event when folks can enjoy themselves and also help less fortunate people too. I hope they raise heaps of cash for the American Liver Foundation.

    1. Steve, we have attended a number of wine festivals over the last 5 years, and it is rare there is a charity involved. So I applaud their efforts to get a chartiy involved, it really rounds out the event.

  4. I’m not much of a wine fan myself but I know a few people who would absolutely love this! Actually, even though I’m not too keen on drinking it, the festival sounds like good fun regardless. I didn’t expect to see the wildlife exhibits. It looks like a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere, and it’s great they support a charity with the event like with the silent auction. I’ve never been anywhere that’s done one of those actually.

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