The Wasatch Back is full of fresh flavor this season, with local makers opening their doors to new tastes and techniques served up with Western hospitality. Whether you fancy a tipple of gin, a limited-edition whiskey, are a craft beer fan, or prefer sipping cider or wine that highlight the region’s terroir, you’ll find delicious beverages worth tasting throughout Summit and Wasatch counties.
Here’s where to find the Wasatch Back’s favorite local distilleries, cideries, wineries, and brewing destinations. Cheers to drinking local.
High West Distillery: A Utah Classic
High West is the cornerstone of Utah’s spirits scene, becoming the state’s first legal distillery since 1870. Belly up to the High West bar at three locations, each offering a different experience.
The large-scale distillery in Wanship offers guided tours and tastings that include a walkthrough of the distillation process, blending, aging, and bottling operations. Following the tour, guests can enjoy a sampling of their award-winning whiskeys and find limited bottlings as well as their full line of spirits for purchase. The on-site restaurant, The Refectory, serves a menu featuring dishes crafted to pair with High West’s spirits, providing a complete culinary experience.
If you’re short on time or tied to Park City proper, High West Saloon just off Park City’s Main Street is where it all started. Today, this location is a ski-in gastropub that serves up locally sourced, mountain-inspired cuisine alongside whiskey flights and handcrafted cocktails. Heavy pours of whiskey lore make it a lunch, après, and dinner destination for laid-back entrance into the world of whiskey.
Just steps away, you’ll find The Nelson Cottage offering a pre-fixe dinner menu and whiskey pairing five nights a week. A Whiskey Ambassador will begin your experience with tips on tasting, pairing whiskey with food, and the history of whiskey in Park City. The Nelson Cottage, along with all properties, is available for event space as well.
Alpine Distilling Social Aid & Pleasure Club
If there’s one thing the Wasatch Back does exceptionally well—besides powder days, alpine sunsets, and weekend brunch—it’s crafting world-class spirits. Alpine Distilling has carved out a niche with its six refined spirits. Their consistently award-winning Alpine Gin is always a standout and Triple Oak was named Spirit of the Year in 2024. At Alpine Distilling Social Aid & Pleasure Club, guests can try a cocktail crafted from any of the distillery’s spirits or immerse themselves in a variety of hands-on activities that only happen there.
Test your artistic skills during a Spirited Paint Party or take part in a gin blending class with Sara Sergent, Alpine’s Master Distiller and the most decorated botanical distiller in America. The workshop is an engaging experience that educates participants in the art of distillation, fosters appreciation for the craft, and ends with a custom-crafted bottle of gin. It’s made in the same manner as that found at Stein Eriksen Lodge and St. Regis Deer Valley that also have their own custom gin blends from Alpine.
Terra 5047: Utah’s Newest High-elevation Winery
Utah isn’t the first place most people think of when they imagine world-class wine, but Terra 5047 might change that perception one sip at a time. Perched on the slopes of Pine Valley Mountain outside St. George in southern Utah, the winery takes its name from the exact altitude of its estate vineyard—5,047 feet—making it the highest-elevation vineyard in the state. Owners Cindy and Gary Ellis, well-known Las Vegas hospitality entrepreneurs, set out to prove that Utah’s terroir could produce wines to rival the greats.
That terroir was first recognized by Sonoma icon Pete Seghesio, longtime steward of Seghesio Family Vineyards. When he visited the site in 2022, he was floored. “No one could have been more surprised than I was to discover this diamond in the rough in Southern Utah,” he says.
In a blind tasting with 25 of Utah’s most knowledgeable wine professionals at Stein Eriksen Lodge in Deer Valley, Seghesio and Ellis placed Terra 5047’s Sangiovese blend among five celebrated Super Tuscans and its Cabernet Sauvignon among five world-class Cabernets. Every participant ranked Terra 5047’s Sangiovese blend first or second—tying with Italy’s legendary Antinori Tignanello. Their Cabernet Sauvignon took first place outright, topping France’s renowned Château Lynch-Bages.
“We were confident we had created something special,” says co-owner Gary Ellis, “but seeing Utah fruit stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s finest wines was astonishing. It confirmed what we believed about this mountain vineyard—the terroir is exceptional.”
It’s an environment that shouldn’t work but does, beautifully. Terra 5047 offers five debut wines, each showcasing the estate’s distinctive high-altitude signature defined by cooler temperatures that slow ripening, intensify flavor, and polish tannins. Their rosé, a concrete-fermented blend of Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir, is bright, floral, and perfect for sipping in Utah’s bluebird sunshine. The Chardonnay carries notes of stone fruit and white blossoms with a clean mineral finish. Alessio, an old-world-style Zinfandel blend, is rich and ruby-dark with jammy layers of plum and cherry. The Chanela Super Tuscan is lively and fruit-forward, led by Sangiovese. And the Cabernet Sauvignon boasts blackberry, red cherry, and beautifully balanced tannins.
You can taste Terra 5047 on the menus at Montage Deer Valley, Glenwild Golf Club, and Stein Eriksen Lodge’s Glitretind restaurant among others, as well as select spots in Salt Lake City and St. George.
Dendric Estate: Utah’s Mountain Cidery
Something special is taking root in Utah’s mountains at Dendric Estate. This boutique mountain cidery in Kamas, just 20 minutes from Park City, recently completed its first estate-grown crush and press season. Nearly 2,000 pounds of apples grown at 6,440 feet elevation from eight distinct varietals found on the 20-acre property were harvested on-site. That fruit, which enjoyed cold nights and mineral-rich soils that give the apples remarkable character, will be combined with over 190,000 pounds of cider apples from partner orchards across the Mountain West for future cider releases.
“This first harvest marks the beginning of estate-grown cider which will be a key blend component in future releases, and eventually make up the foundation of a single-estate label in years to come,” founder Brendan Coyle explains.
For cider lovers, this means the flavors of the Kamas Valley—its altitude, its climate, its terroir—will soon become an even more direct part of the Dendric experience as they let the fruit, fermentation, and terroir express itself fully.
Dendric Estate welcomes guests every Friday and Saturday from noon to 5 pm, offering the chance to taste and purchase their flagship cider Dry Cut, browse new bottle releases, or enjoy the property and take in the sweeping mountain views. Dry Cut—a crisp, aromatic, beautifully textured cider—is available in 750ml and 375ml formats and can be purchased by the bottle or by the case (12 bottles per case, both formats). It can also be sipped at a curated selection of bars, restaurants, and hotels in Park City and Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake Brewing Co. in Park City
Raise a glass at two destinations that helped define Utah’s craft beer scene. Start at the Top of Main Brew Pub located in an iconic building that embodies the spirit of Old Town Park City. Built in 1986, it was home to Utah’s first brew pub, Wasatch Brew Pub, which helped launch the craft beer movement in the Pacific Northwest.
Top of Main serves fresh-brewed beer from its award-winning brewery alongside a full wine and liquor menu that includes craft cocktails featuring locally distilled spirits. The menu includes delicious pub classics, as well as more eclectic fare, with options to satisfy every taste and most dietary restrictions.
On the other end of town, Park City Roadhouse Grill has been a landmark destination at the junction of Route 224 and Park Avenue since 2006. Serving beers from both Top of Main and Salt Lake Brewing in addition to $4 brunch drinks, this family-friendly restaurant pairs brews with locally sourced ingredients on the breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus.
No matter where you find yourself in Park City, these foundational breweries remain dependable destinations for locals and visitors looking to enjoy fresh Utah beers with pub favorites.
