When Highlands Food & Wine launches this year from November 13–16, it won’t just be another joyful weekend of music, food, and celebration in the mountains.
The festival is marking its 10th anniversary, a milestone it has chosen to honor not with a stage flourish or a bigger tent, but with something you can taste.
Organizers have invested in producing two specially crafted beverages: a crisp lager from Charleston’s Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company and a limited-edition red blend from Sonoma’s Davis Family Vineyards. Together, they capture the essence of what Highlands Food & Wine has always been about—flavor, creativity, and community.
For the beer, Edmund’s Oast co-owner and brewing director Cameron Read set out to make something festive yet approachable, the kind of beer that can carry you from the first chords of an afternoon set to the last bites of dinner under the lights.
The result is Ten Outta Tin, a cheeky nod to the festival’s 10th year and the pint cans it will be packaged in.
“We wanted to brew something refreshing enough to enjoy all day, but with layers that make you pause between sips,” Read says. To get there, he leaned into American brewing tradition with a touch of rice – lightening the body and boosting drinkability – while giving it a modern lift with Hallertau Blanc hops from Germany. The hops add a whisper of white wine aromatics, a subtle wink to the festival’s vinous side.
Edmund’s Oast produced 1,000 gallons of the lager, plenty to keep glasses full at festival events and on draft and in 16-ounce cans at local bars and retailers. The label, by Edmund’s Oast artist Blake Suarez, takes inspiration from the mountains themselves, with a bear and fish sketched into a whimsical tableau of local wildlife.
“It’s playful, but it also grounds the beer in its sense of place,” Read adds.
Celebrate the release of Ten Outta Tin with Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co. on October 23 from 5:00–7:00 P.M. in Charleston, South Carolina.
If the beer is about lightness and refreshment, the wine leans into depth and collaboration. Winemaker Guy Davis of Davis Family Vineyards chose to craft a red blend that mirrors the festival’s spirit.
“Highlands Food & Wine has always been about collaboration – chefs, winemakers, musicians all coming together,” Davis says. “A blend just felt right.”
His wine marries Italian varietals Sangiovese and Dolcetto with Bordeaux grapes Cabernet Franc and Malbec. The result is supple and layered, with silky tannins and a food-friendly profile that evokes the great Super Tuscans.
The wine spent two full years in barrel before being bottled earlier this year, timed to show beautifully during the festival. Only 35 cases exist – enough for dinners, tastings, and a few bottles at Davis’ Highlands tasting room, High Country Wine and Provisions.
“I wanted it to be a wine for the table, a wine that brings people together,” Davis says.
Even the label carries the festival’s artistic stamp. Oregon designer Kelley Wills, known for posters for Phish and Brandi Carlile, created the 10th anniversary artwork and extended it to the wine label. The tagline, “10 Years of Hitting the High Notes,” nods to both the music and the altitude, capturing Highlands Food & Wine’s unique blend of sound and setting.
Join Davis Family Vineyards for their High Notes Anniversary Wine release party on November 6 at 6:00 P.M., hosted at High Country Wine and Provisions.
Together, the beer and red blend are not just souvenirs. They are liquid expressions of a decade-long tradition, a way to hold the festival’s energy in your hand. In fact, they are liquid history – one bright, crisp, and playful; the other deep, layered, and contemplative.
Each bottle tells the story of a festival that has spent a decade raising Highlands onto a national stage, not with spectacle, but with what matters most: a shared table, a shared song, and a glass raised in good company.
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