Annual Winnipesaukee Wine Festival Returns to Meredith

Don’t miss the feel-good event of the year—two fun nights of fabulous food, wine, and music on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee that will showcase wines from around the world, along with fabulous food from local restaurants—all while raising funds for a local non-profit organization.

The Seventh Annual Winnipesaukee Wine Festival will take place on Thursday, June 21^st from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. in the Winnipesaukee Ballroom at Church Landing, where more than 100 domestic and international wines provided by over 20 vintners will be ready for sampling. To accompany these great wines, several local eateries will be preparing delicious hors d’oeuvres and appetizers. Guests can sample wonderful dishes from Lakehouse Grille, The Corner House Inn, Lavinia’s, Owen’s Farm Stand, Lago, Camp, and Town Docks.

The evening will also feature an ice bar with spirits and beer from Cisco Brewers of Nantucket. The Brewery will be offering samples of their Whale’s Tale Ale and Triple Eight Vodka, with the latter being freshly mixed into martinis that will be poured down an ice sculpture luge created by Jeff Day of Ice Designs.

Music for the event, which is hosted by The Common Man Family of Restaurants and The Martignetti Companies of New Hampshire, will be provided by the talented local jazz duo of Don Williams and David Tonkin, who play frequently throughout New Hampshire in various jazz ensembles and bands, and are also faculty members of the Concord Community Music School.

For this year, the hosts have brought in a professional M.C. and auctioneer, Pat Kelly. “He’s a really great radio personality—he has a lot of enthusiasm and wit,” says Diane Downing of the Common Man Family, who is organizing the festival. “He’s going to M.C. the evening and handle some live auction items, which is also something new that we’re doing. We used to just do the raffle items and the door prizes, but this year we’re having a live auction as well.”

Guests enjoying samples at The Winnipesaukee Wine Festival

The auction promises to be one of the most exciting parts of the evening, with three great getaways, including a long weekend at a private seaside Nantucket cottage, an overnight stay at Church Landing with dinner and a cocktail cruise, and an overnight stay at the Common Man Inn in Plymouth with dinner and tickets to The Flying Monkey, going to the highest bidders.

Every year the Wine Festival has a signature local artist who does the artwork for all the graphics for the event. This year’s artist is Lyn Seley, and she has created a beautiful watercolor painting that adorns the poster as well as aprons and t-shirts that will be available at the festival. Lyn’s framed original watercolor will be auctioned off at the end of the evening.

Martignetti Companies of New Hampshire, who provide over 100 wines for the event, have donated some big magnums of wine for the raffle. Other raffle items include a something special from Wholly Tara Boutique, Red Sox tickets, and tickets for Barnstormers Theatre.

Wine festival tickets are $50 per person, and all proceeds will benefit the New Hampshire Humane Society. “Everything is donated at this event,” explains Diane, “the food, the wine, the staff—they graciously volunteer their time. The flowers come from Mountain Laurel in Ashland, and all the linens are donated by General Linen Company . . . the music is all donated. When you purchase your ticket for the event, every penny of that goes to the charity.” Diane says that there will be enough food to qualify as a dinner! “You’ll be tasting some $75 bottles of wine, so by the time you’ve had two glasses of wine and a few stops at some of the food tables, you’re well over your $50 investment, so it’s money well spent.”

The night before the Wine Festival, the annual pre-fest Beach Party will be held at Town Docks. “This is an event that I think people should really be made aware of,” says Diane. It’s the best music I’ve heard in a really long time!” The band is comprised of some of the wine vendors, and one of them, Robbie LaBlanc of Bogle Wine, used to play with Toto. Local musician and restaurant owner Mike Bourgeois of Giuseppe’s jumps in with the band, too. “It’s really is like a little beach party,” says Diane. “We dance and eat great food and drink great wine— come and take your flip-flops off!” Admission to this event is free and a portion of the proceeds will also benefit the the NHHS.

The Inns & Spa at Mill Falls have very graciously offered discounts on rooms for both nights, so guests can wine and dine all night long and not worry about driving home.

Tickets for the Winnipesaukee Wine Festival are available at The Common Man website, Venture Print in Plymouth, Lago and Lakehouse in Meredith, Common Man Express in Ashland, and the Common Man Company Store in Ashland. As always, when you purchase tickets ahead of time, you’ll receive a commemorative wine glass with the festival logo and date, as well as a tasting plate, at the door. Use your glass and your plate for sampling all the goodies, and then take them home with you!

The Winnipesaukee Wine Festival is a wonderful way to welcome summer, enjoy good food and wine, and help out a great cause all at once. “I always feel good when we do something for animals,” says Diane. “For me, a real soft place in my heart is that we take care of our animals.”

Carrie Reed
The Mill Falls Blogging Team