11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Memorial Park, 502 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs; $30, manitousprings.org or 685-5089

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Explaining the taste of a wine – “like buttered moss in June” or “peppery saddle leather” – can be almost as much fun as the drinking itself.

Almost.

Oenophiles and garden-variety wine fans alike can put their noses, palates and descriptive talents to the test at the Manitou Springs Colorado Wine Festival, a celebration of the state’s vintners, local crafts and foods that annually draws more than 3,500 people to the city’s Memorial Park.

Attendees get a commemorative glass and can taste blends and varietals from 25 Colorado wineries while listening to live blues, jazz and folk music and sampling eats from area restaurants, including Island Style BBQ caterers, Cookin’ With Fire and Margo’s Vienna Station. Bottled wines will be available for purchase.

Now in its 13th year, the event was created by the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce, Visitors Bureau and Office of Economic Development to help showcase the downtown and the state’s thriving wine industry, which has grown from a handful of wineries in the 1990s to more than 100 today.

“This is a great event to promote Manitou Springs and celebrate Colorado wines, as well as small businesses, and to kick off the summer season,” said Brittany Tafoya, a festival organizer and assistant to the chamber’s executive director.

Online sales closed Thursday, but tickets – while they last – will be sold at the gates until 4 p.m. Be sure to swing by the bank first; credit cards are accepted by vendors and wineries inside the festival, but day-of ticket sales are cash only. Designated drivers (who won’t be tasting) get in free.

Starting at 10:30 a.m., free shuttle service is offered throughout town and to and from parking areas at Manitou Springs High School, Fields Park and Rodeway Inn.

Stephanie Earls, The Gazette, 636-0364, stephanie.earls@gazettedev.gazette.com