Skiing, Wine, & Spirits: What to Drink, Based on Which Destination You Hit
Updated:
October 11, 2024
Booking a destination ski trip often comes with an aura of high-class. And there’s no better way to channel that high-class experience by pairing your trip with the ultimate wine or spirit.
The best ski resorts and towns have storied relationships with top-shelf beverages that sometimes extend longer than the alpine sports themselves, and those in the area can score killer pairings by picking up a wine or spirit that exemplifies the resort’s standout traits. In this piece, we’ll share our top pairing recommendations for North America’s highest-class mountains, using the resorts’ locations, terrain, snow quality, and just general vibes to get you on your way with the perfect match for your ski trip.
Here to partner with us on these selections was epicure Thomas Crowley – former wine director for theBar Veloceempire, and presently working as a sales consultant forCoeur Wine Co, a NYC-based wine & spirits importer/distributor. You can check out more about himhere.
Before we jump in, we must advise all our readers to drink responsibly and not ski or ride under the influence.
Vail, Colorado
Wine Pairing:Domaine Courbet, Château-Chalon Savagnin (2016)
Vailis one of the most famous ski resorts in the world, and it’s made a serious name for itself for its iconic, seemingly never-ending bowl terrain and plainly massive terrain footprint. With slopes this majestic, you can’t just pair a day at Vail with any old wine. Sure, you’ll need a round, sumptuous Jura white to match the sheer size of the resort. But you’ll also need an impeccably crafted one to fit the luxury of the village, yet not too overly ambitious, to reflect the comparably tame expert terrain versus some competitors. Enter Château-Chalon Savagnin from biodynamic winemaker Damien Courbet, which checks all the boxes. Damien cut his teeth in California, Austria, and Burgundy before returning to the Upper Seille to do some of the finest winemaking in the world. WWII-era vines and sous voile aging yield a bottle fitting for the occasion, whether it’s a Blue Sky Basin picnic or aprés in the village.
Aspen Snowmass, Colorado
Wine Pairing:Champagne 'La Fontinette' Blanc de Meunier Extra Brut (2019)
Aspen Snowmassis known for a lot of things, including its four distinct mountains, affluent vibe, and incredibly well-rounded terrain. But if there’s one thing it’s especially known for, it’s the iconic Cloud Nine rooftop way up onAspen Highlands, where champagne bottles practically line the place.
But you shouldn’t just stop with Moët when you douse yourself in a champagne shower at the Cloud Nine. The occasion calls for La Fontinette, a biodynamic, bone-dry (zero dosage!) single vineyard Pinot Meunier Champagne. The wine comes from Domaine Nowack, a youthful but sharp, talented producer in the Marne Valley. This limestone and clay vineyard-sourced white is a perfect complement not just to the steep and iconic nature of the Highlands Bowl, but also to the colors of ski wax for the ride down. ‘Fontinette’ means ‘fountain’, so it’s perfect for the on-piste vibe! But in all seriousness, forget about squandering this beautiful (and extremely limited) bottle on a Champagne shower — save it for yourself and drink it in the bath.
Deer Valley, Utah
Spirit Pairing:Dented Brick Distillery, Moon's Best Premium Rye Whiskey
Deer Valleyis all about luxury and customer service, even if it means making its presence known across the whole mountain, and it needs something that fits the bill – something that’s both complex and imposing. Enter Moon’s Best from Dented Brick Distillery. With vanilla and peppercorn on the nose, cinnamon, clove, oak and smoke on the finish, you won’t find a better match than this. A serious whiskey pairing of this sort would ideally share some roots with Deer Valley, and indeed it does, sourcing its rye from the northern Utah’s Cache Valley, and mineral-rich water originating in the Wasatch Mountains, ten minutes south of the restort.
Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia
Wine Pairing:Di Costanzo, Cabernet Sauvignon Farella Vineyard Coombsville (2019)
Whistler Blackcombis a true beast, with the largest skiable footprint and most comprehensive terrain experience on the continent, boasting top-notch slopes across all elevations for visitors of all ability levels. A resort of this caliber calls for a grand, muscular — yet herbal and elegant — Cab Sauv.
This Di Costanzo is a perfect match, and its characteristic full body is right there to warm the soul when the snowfall is heavy and wet (which, unfortunately, happens a lot). Sourced entirely from the renowned Farella Vineyard in Napa Valley, red, gravelly loam and volcanic ash impart a freshness and acidity which remain even after 22 months in French oak barriques. And it makes for a formidable complement to the raw, majestic, but time-beaten extremes off Spanky’s Ladder and the Peak Chair. But the meticulous vinification by the former Screaming Eagle winemaker is what really drives home the argument for Di Constanzo; its show-stopping finish provides accessibility for both first-timers as well as tenured consumers, and presents a true match for the wholeness of Whistler Blackcomb’s slopes.
MORE INFO ON WHISTLER BLACKCOMB
Snowbird, Utah
Wine Pairing:von der Vogelwaide, Weinland Grüner Veltliner Tandaradai (2020)
If you’re looking for the best combination of light, dry snow and truly demanding terrain in North America, it’s hard to find a better mountain thanSnowbird.
Snowbird offers what’s basically an unparalleled experience in a number of ways, with incredible snowfall totals, light, dry accumulation, and insane steeps. You need a fine wine that can live up to Snowbird’s incredible high-alpine package, and that’s where von der Vogelwaide — an elevated, organic, single vineyard Grüner Veltliner from the rocky soils of the Wachau — comes in. Aged on the lees for 14 months in seasoned French oak, this stellar Austrian will fortify you in preparation for the rapid, colossal powder accumulation here, while still retaining a striking minerality and acidity that cut through, like the magic carpet through the Peruvian Tunnel. Moreover, ’Tandaradai’ is Austro-German onomatopoeia for the sound of a flapping bird’s — to wit, a snowbird’s — wings.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Spirit Pairing:Letherbee Original Gin
High quality snow deserves a high quality spirit. Reward yourself for navigatingJackson Hole’sinsanely long, precipitous vertical drop with the world’s finest gin: from Chicago, Letherbee Original. A perfect complement to Jackson’s complex and varied footprint, the usual suspects among London Dry botanicals are here: juniper, coriander, lemon peel, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger, along with a couple of curveballs like cubeb berry and licorice. Non-chill filtered and as such, will louche when iced, but make no mistake: this is super clean gin, down to the molecular level (and entirely organic); enjoy a Martini stirred and served up, in a coupe, to match the shape of Corbet's Couloir.
Palisades Tahoe, California
Wine Pairing: Gros Ventre Cellars, El Dorado Rosé (2021)
Palisades Tahoemay not be especially known for its snow quality, but the resort completely knocks it out of the park when it comes to insane skiable terrain, stunning resort vistas, and the post-slopes party vibe. Palisades Tahoe’s rawer nature compared to some of the luxury-oriented mountains on this list might have you thinking a whiskey would be best, but the California sun means you have to pair it with a wine — albeit a well-crafted but bold one.
And there’s no better match than the Gros Ventre Cellars El Dorado Rosé, which not only sparkles in the sun against Palisades’ beautiful, varied background, but also originated in El Dorado country, just southwest of the resort. Winemaker Chris Pittinger guides the fermentation meticulously in the cellar and then ages in stainless and seasoned French oak before bottling. You get wild strawberries on the nose, then dried herbs and flowers on the palate, making for an experience that’s just as complex as the slopes themselves. Moreover, ’Gros Ventre’, (French for ‘Big Belly’) seems an apt brand for this ‘feast or famine’ resort’s massive powder dumps — you might just find yourself spending the day in the lodge drinking a bottle of this rosé while the crew digs itself out from a 5-foot powder dump!
Stowe, Vermont
Wine Pairing: Brezza, Barolo Riserva Sarmassa Vigna Bricco (2016)
And how could we end this list without taking a trip to the East Coast, which may not be the biggest and best destination today but is where the sport of skiing really got its start in North America. And there’s no more storied mountain thanStowe,which has been around for nearly nine decades, and needs a properly mature wine to match.
Bottled only in the best vintages, there’s no better match than Brezza Vigna Bricco Sarmassa, a Barolo made from certified organic Nebbiolo grapes grown at 300 meters up. And the vines — planted in 1941 — are almost as old as the Stowe Mountain Resort. Fourth generation winemaker Enzo Brezza ages this Sarmassa for 24 months in Slavonian oak, and then 18 months in the bottle before release, and with a tiny production of 220 cases (and those are six-packs, mind you) this rarified Piedmontese gem makes for an apt companion to your plush stop-in at the Spruce Peak base lodge. On top of that — at 15% alcohol — it calms nerves inflamed by the lengthy lines that we’ve all come to expect on this peak.
Final Thoughts
The wine and spirits world is a large and complex one, and with so many options, it can be hard to choose the right complement for your ski trip. But if you can identify the right match, it can make for a near-heavenly experience. And thankfully, North America’s world-class mountains come with some world-class pairings.
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