Park City Food & Wine Classic 

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With July 4 falling on a Wednesday this year, I’d be tempted to extend the holiday through the weekend by taking some vacation time and heading up to Park City for the 2012 Food & Wine Classic, which runs July 5 through 8. As always, a portion of the proceeds from the Park City Food & Wine Classic benefits a great cause: the People’s Health Clinic, a community-supported, volunteer-driven clinic that provides high-quality medical services to uninsured individuals and families in Summit and Wasatch Counties.

As in past years, the Park City Food & Wine Classic features an array of activities and events, from wine tastings, seminars and gourmet foods to mountain bike rides, hiking and even a “hair of the dog.” The event gets started on Thursday, July 5, with the annual Wine on the Mountain celebration ($125), hosted by the St. Regis Resort in Deer Valley. Beginning at 6 p.m., guests will indulge in a grand selection of premier wines, accompanied by passed hors d’oeuvres courtesy of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s signature J&G Grill.

Food & Wine Classic highlights on Friday include a return of the popular Mud, Sweat & Cheers event ($95), where you’ll embark on a scenic mountain-bike ride on some of Park City’s panoramic single-tracks, led by Stein Eriksen Lodge Executive Chef Zane Holmquist. The ride will be followed by a scrumptious lunch with wines supplied by Fisher Vineyards and David Arthur Vineyards. Other enticing Friday events include the Authentic Belgium Food & Beer Experience ($65), a seminar focusing on Spain’s old vines and its wines ($55) and “Past, Present & Future” wines of Stags Leap’s Cliff Lede Vineyards ($65). It all culminates in the Stroll of Park City Grand Tasting ($70), where you’ll meander up and down Main Street, sipping wines from various wineries and enjoying bite-size snacks from Park City’s best restaurants.

Saturday kicks off with more mountain biking, this time through Deer Valley Resort’s single-track terrain with St. Regis Executive Chef Chip McMullin, followed by lunch at the St. Regis waterfall and complemented with wines from Robert Sinskey Vineyards ($95). At the Art of Wine Blending seminar ($65), you can become a winemaker for a day, as Justin Baldwin of Justin Vineyards & Winery leads a seminar about the nuances of wine blending. At the Drink to Your Health seminar ($65), master sommelier Ron Mumford will pair several delectable and healthy small-plate courses created by Chef Nick Lorenz of Easy Street with five white wines, while discussing how to properly pair and prepare courses like spicy tuna tartar and Thai snapper ceviche. Hikers will enjoy hiking up the Sweeney Switchback Trail during a “hikenar” (hike plus seminar, $65). After the hike, guests will enjoy a lunch on High West Distillery’s patio, along with a sampling of wines from Shannon Ridge Winery. Riedel Crystal is partnering this year with the Food & Wine Classic for “If the Wine Matters, So Does the Glass!” ($65), a seminar in which guests will enjoy four wine varietals and receive a set of Riedel tasting glasses (suggested retail of $125!) to take home. And then, the big event of the day is the Toast of Park City Grand Tasting ($90), at Canyons Resort. A huge array of domestic and international wineries, gourmet food purveyors, spirits and beers will be represented, accompanied by live entertainment at this always-fun tasting event.

The Park City Food & Wine Classic wraps up on Sunday with the “Hair of the Dog” bike ride ($95), a 25-mile road ride through Deer Valley and Park City, followed by a High West Distillery lunch prepared by Executive Chef James Dumas, paired with High West’s signature cocktails.

For a full schedule of events and pricing, visit ParkCityFoodAndWineClassic.com.