Rustic Pear Tart with Late-Harvest Viognier Syrup and Crème Fraîche

Recipe from Michael Donovan at RoxyAnn Winery

“The rich, fruity sweetness of our 2007 RoxyAnn Late-Harvest Viognier beautifully complements the natural sugars in roasted Hillcrest Orchard pears.”  —Michael Donovan, RoxyAnn managing director

Crust
1½ cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (1¼ stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon late-harvest Riesling or other sweet white dessert wine

Filling/Topping
3 large ripe but firm Comice pears, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon plus ½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons late-harvest Viognier or other sweet white dessert wine
½ cup water
* crème fraîche (store-bought or homemade)

1. Make crust: Blend flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter, using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk and wine, using on/off turns, mix just until moist clumps form. [Note: if dough is crumbly, add teaspoons of ice water until it comes together.] Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 40 minutes and up to 2 days. 2. Make filling: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 12-inch round. Remove top sheet of parchment and transfer dough, with bottom parchment, to rimmed baking sheet. Place pear slices, 1 tablespoon sugar, and flour in large bowl; toss to combine. Spoon pear mixture into center of dough, leaving 1½ -inch border. Using parchment as aid, fold up outer edge of dough over edge of filling. Bake until pears are tender, about 20 minutes. 3. Meanwhile, boil 1 cup wine, ½ cup water, and remaining ½ cup sugar in medium saucepan until syrup is reduced to ½ cup, about 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Drizzle half of syrup over filling. Continue baking tart until juices are bubbling thickly, about 20 minutes. Cool. Whisk 2 tablespoons wine into remaining syrup. Cut tart into wedges. Drizzle with syrup. Serve with a dollop of crème fraîche. Serves 8.

Wine Suggestion: 2007 RoxyAnn Late Harvest Viognier

RoxyAnn Winery

Inspired by the Rogue Valley’s natural beauty and bounty, RoxyAnn Winery was founded in 2002 at the historic Hillcrest Orchard in east Medford that has been bearing fruit for over 100 years.

Today, RoxyAnn Winery handcrafts bold and exciting wines that possess tremendous color, complexity and depth of flavor. Their winemaking relies upon a balanced and gentle process that fully expresses the unique attributes of the vineyard in our wines. RoxyAnn’s extraordinary vineyard is located on the southwest slopes of Roxy Ann Peak; where the property’s shallow, limestone-clay soils and southern solar exposure is ideally suited to producing Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Tempranillo, Viognier and Syrah.

RoxyAnn strives to honor its agricultural heritage by cultivating the vineyards under sustainable practices by taking extra care to prevent soil erosion, limiting water use to protect the aquifers and respecting wildlife habitat, as well as using cover crops, compost and in-row cultivation. RoxyAnn’s vineyards are LIVE and Salmon-Safe certified.

The tasting room is open daily 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about RoxyAnn, call 541-776-2315 or visit www.roxyann.com .