19th Annual Alpen Wine Fest Ever dream of sipping great wine in a European village with mountain spires and chair lifts in the background, strolling through boutique shops and listening to music?  Is this Germany or Switzerland, the Tyrolean Alps?  No, it’s Squaw Valley, California at the Alpen Wine Fest held each year here to benefit charity. The Village at Squaw Valley holds an annual wine fest each Labor Day weekend where some of the best wines of California can be tasted all in one place.  Squaw Valley is located off Highway 89 between Lake Tahoe and Truckee.  It is one of the area’s oldest and most

prestigious resorts having opened in 1949 with one chair lift, a rope tow and a fifty room lodge.  Even with these humble facilities the Olympic Committee was so impressed with the area's potential they held the games there in 1960. It took 4 ½ years to build the venue and freeways, hotels, motels, restaurants and an Olympic Village needed for the event.  The games brought a grand total of 47,000 spectators to the Village, a paltry number by today’s standards, but the largest crowd to ever watch a winter event in the United States up until that time. 

Squaw Valley is now all grown up with 33 state of the industry lifts that access six peaks and 4000 acres of slopes, with the beautiful Village at Squaw being the latest improvement.  The Village offers thirty shops, bars, restaurants and lodging, all made to look like an enchanting Tyrolean Village located at the base of those famous Squaw ski slopes.  The views this time of year is of rocky mountain peaks and idle ski lifts.  There is a cable car located in the far western edge of the complex that runs year round and takes guests to High Camp at the 8200 foot elevation with its breathtaking views, a year round ice skating rink, bar and restaurant.  Continued ...