Rhubarb Wine Pie and a Winefest
This past weekend I volunteered at the Colorado Urban Winefest. I did it not only for the free entry but to try to start a love affair with some local wines…
Let me explain. I love everything about Colorado, the people, the mountains, the sunshine, the local beer, the agriculture but until this festival I have never been much of a Colorado Wine fan. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE wine, it is my alcoholic beverage of choice. I love Syrah and Malbec and Gruner Veltliner. Until this festival, my past experiences with Colorado wines hasn’t been good. This festival changed my opinion of Colorado wine completely! I tried some very tasty Cabernet Franc and Syrah and most surprisingly some fabulous fruit wines; peach, pomegranate, cranberry, cherry.
My favorite winery was Colorado Cellars, established in 1978 they are Colorado’s original winery. In the brief time I chatted with owners Rick and Padte, I could tell that making great wine is truly their passion. They had many great wines but most notable for me were their fruit wines! I’ve always thought of fruit wines as overly sweet and syrupy! Not Colorado Cellars – their fruit wines were refreshingly true to their fruit. They have a peach wine that tastes just like biting into a fresh Palisade Peach.
Some of the other wineries I enjoyed (both for their tasty wine and their friendliness and enthusiasm) was Kahil Winery, their 2010 Malbec was extraordinary! I wish I would have bought more than one bottle.
Grande River Vineyards and their gregarious front man “Dibs” had a lovely Syrah that accidentally got charged to my credit card for $190,019. Luckily it was really only $19!
Water2Wine, a winery with a location in Denver, makes a great Green Apple Riesling and a wonderful red wine called Amarone Speciale. I added some of their Cranberry Malbec to the luscious rhubarb wine pie.
I tried other great wines from Bijou Creek Vineyards, Two Rivers Winery, LeRoux Creek Vineyards, Snowy Peaks Winery, and St. Kathryn Cellars.
Need help exploring Colorado’s wineries? Check out Paula Mitchell’s new book, Exploring Colorado Wineries. It’s a wonderfully comprehensive and educational book about Colorado’s grape growing regions and highlights Colorado’s wineries.
Rhubarb Wine Pie
serves 8
2 pie crusts (recipe here)
5 c. fresh Colorado rhubarb (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
1 c. frozen strawberries (thawed and drained)
1 c. frozen raspberries (thawed and drained)
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. Water2Wine Cranberry Malbec
1/4 t. salt
1 T. milk
2 T. turbinado sugar
Combine the sugar, wine, flour and salt in a medium saucepan and heat on medium high heat. Whisk the mixture together and stir continuously until the mixture starts to boil. Lower the heat and let the syrup continue to cook for about 5 minutes or until it starts to thicken.
Place all of the fruit in a large bowl and pour the syrup over the fruit. Mix thoroughly and let sit for about 15 minutes.
Place one pie crust in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate, draping the edges over without trimming. Pour in the fruit mixture. Cover the top of the pie with the second pie crust. For venting, cut a few holes in the top pie crust with a cookie cutter before laying on top of the pie. Curl up the bottom and top layer of crust together, pinching it together as you go. This may seem like a thick edge, however, it will not burn as easily during baking. Lightly brush on the milk on the top of the pie and then sprinkle generously with the turbinado sugar.
Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, place a baking sheet underneath the pie and bake an additional 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or until the pie begins to bubble.
Let cool completely (about 2 hours) on a cooling rack before serving.
Try not to eat it all in one bite like my friend Doug!
June 15, 2012
This entry was posted in baking, favorites in Colorado, pies and tagged Colorado Cellars, Colorado wineries, pie, Raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, wine.
