Recently I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful property of Burntshirt Vineyards in Hendersonville, NC. The grounds are simply amazing. I can’t think of a better location to enjoy a glass of wine. While most of the grounds are not open to the public, I was given a sneak peek at the full operation.
When people think wine, they usually think Europe or California. But there is a wine industry in North Carolina, which is steadily growing. Burntshirt is one of several wineries in NC that are creating a bit of a new wine boom in the area. Several years ago, the owners were simply grape growers. However, it turned out that their grapes were quite good and so they decided to try their hand at wine making. A move which has turned out to be a good one, since they have been awarded several prizes for the quality of their wine.
During the tour, I learned all about wine making. It turns out that red and white wines are made in a similar fashion with one difference in production: red grapes are left to soak with their skins, which is what turns the wine red. Without this step in the process, red wine would be closer in color to white. I also never realized that wine is essentially grape juice with yeast added. It was really cool to check out some of their barrels with clear ends, where you could see the wine magic happening in real time!
Admittedly, I am not much of an oenophile. But I love fruit and farms and locally made stuff, so I was really excited to see how the wine was made. I even took my son to their annual grape stomping event, which was a lot of fun even though I couldn’t convince my boy to put his feet in the grapes!
They only offer grape stomping on Labor Day weekend, but you can tour the winery any day of the year. And of course they have a full tasting room and store to fulfill your wine needs and wants.
So if you’re in the area, give Burntshirt a visit. And while you’re here, check out some of the other great NC Wineries on the WNC Trail.
With all this wine on hand, of course I had to come up with a delicious baked dessert to enjoy it. Thanks to my dedicated taste testers who not only ate all my cake but also drank all my wine. 😉
Recipe
Gluten Free Red Wine Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cup Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend I use Bob’s Red Mill
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¾ Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Cup Sugar
- ½ Cup Light Brown Sugar
- ¾ Cup + 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 Large Eggs + 1 Yolk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 Cup Red Wine I used Cabernet, but use your favorite red wine
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder. Set aside.
- Sift together flour, cinnamon, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine sugars and oil. Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing about 60 seconds between each addition. Add the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the wine, beginning and ending with wine.
- Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cake is cool, melt about 1 C of chocolate chips on 50% power in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 60 seconds. Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil to the melted chocolate, stir until smooth. Pour melted chocolate over the cake.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days (if it lasts that long!)
Tiffany is the recipe developer, stylist and food photographer behind Well Fed Baker. As a lifelong baker who had to go gluten free and dairy free in 2016, Tiffany strives to share allergen friendly recipes that never feel like they are free from anything.
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