When Wine Meets Pie: Sara Specter, Grape Pie, and Breaking the Rules

Most wine industry insiders and owners bring wine when they visit other wineries. At Bells Up, we bring pie.

In honor of National Pie Day, Bells Up Money Honey Sara Specter joined publisher and podcaster Lisa Smith on her Big Blend Radio Podcast to talk about two things that don’t often share the spotlight: wine and grape pie. What followed was a hilarious, insightful, and surprisingly practical conversation about creativity, curiosity, and why sometimes the best ideas come from ignoring the rules entirely.

A Pie Story Born in the Vineyard

The grape pie story starts the way many Bells Up stories do: with curiosity and a little excess.

Back in 2013, not long after Dave and Sara settled on their Chehalem Mountains property, Sara visited a nearby grower in Hubbard, Oregon—an experimental table-grape farmer with roughly 40 different seedless grape varieties. During a September open house, Sara did what she freely admits she’s known for: she picked… and picked… and picked. By the end, she had nearly 200 pounds of grapes.

When the farmer asked what she planned to do with all of them, her answer was simple: “Eat them.”

His response changed everything: “You need to make a grape pie. And you’re going to make one and you’ll be back next weekend.”

Sara didn’t believe him. Grape pie didn’t sound real. But it turns out—it very much is.

The Accidental Signature Dessert

Armed with a grape cookbook and some guidance (use small, dark grapes; never bake green grapes unless you want “snot pie”), Sara went home and experimented. She kept it simple: store-bought crust, destemmed grapes lightly tossed in flour, no added sugar if the grapes were sweet enough, and a crumb topping. A generous spoonful of ground cardamom. Bake at 350° for about an hour. Done.

The result? A pie that disappeared in one sitting.

Even more surprising: one particular rare grape variety—so scarce the grower had only 12 plants—made a pie that tasted more like blueberry than grape.

Sara recalls: “The next weekend, sure enough, I’m back out there. I’m the first person in line to get through the gate and the farmer comes up and he looks at me and he says, ‘Hey, you’re back.’ And I said, ‘Yeah. I’m going to tell you the three little words that your wife never says to you.’ And he says, ‘Oh yeah, what’s that?’ I said, ‘You were right.’ I came back and I bought every single one of this particular grape. And so now every year I go back out there and I strip out all 12 of those plants of that grape and make pie all year.”

Why Bells Up Brings Pie (And Wine)

As Sara shared on the podcast, when she and Dave began visiting other small wineries, everyone brought bottles. Bells Up brought pie (and wine too).

Why? Pie is memorable. Pie is unexpected. Pie starts conversations. And at Bells Up, hospitality has always been about connection, not convention. If you’ve ever received one of Sara’s frozen, unbaked pies (she insists baking it yourself is half the joy—the aroma of a baking pie? “Pie foreplay,” she says), that’s how you know you’re special.

The Perfect Pairing: Grape Pie & Firebird Syrah

The final twist came when a fellow wine friend suggested pairing the grape pie with Bells Up Firebird Syrah.

It was magic.

The pie’s dark-fruit, blueberry-like character and the Syrah’s depth and structure turned an unconventional dessert into a perfect pairing. It’s now the go-to recommendation: grape pie (or even blueberry pie) with Firebird Syrah. Vanilla ice cream optional—but encouraged.

The Bigger Lesson

What makes this story quintessentially Bells Up isn’t just the pie—it’s the mindset.

• Wine and pie? Yes, you can.
• Unusual grapes? Absolutely.
• Rules worth breaking? Always.

As Sara put it, the joy is in trying something new, experimenting, and having fun instead of turning creativity into a chore. Whether it’s composing wine like music or turning table grapes into dessert, Bells Up is proof that the best ideas often come from saying, “Why not?”

And if you ever visit during harvest season? There’s a good chance wine won’t be the only thing coming out of the kitchen.

Listen to the Podcast

Experience Bells Up’s Wines (and *Maybe* a Pie) Today

There’s much more to the conversation Lisa and Sara shared. To hear more, check out video of the podcast recording, posted above. Are you special enough to earn a grape pie? Contact us by phone at 503.537.1328 or email info@bellsupwinery.com to book a private tasting appointment with Winemaker Dave. Sara answers the phone most of the time—feel free to try to sweet talk her into a pie.

RECIPE: Sara Specter’s Easy Grape Pie

Perfect with Bells Up Winery’s Firebird Syrah

Best Grapes:
Small, dark blue or purple seedless grapes (avoid green grapes unless it’s Halloween and you want to make a “Snot Pie”)

Ingredients

• 1 prepared pie crust (store-bought is fine)

• 4–5 cups seedless grapes, destemmed and washed

• 1–2 Tbsp flour (for tossing grapes)

• Sugar, to taste (optional—often not needed)

• 1 tsp cardamom (optional but recommended)

Crumb Topping

• 1 cup flour

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 cup butter, cut into pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Line pie pan with crust.

3. Toss grapes with flour (and sugar if needed). Add cardamom if using.

4. Fill pie shell with grape mixture.

5. Cut flour, sugar, and butter together until crumbly; sprinkle over top.

6. Bake for about 1 hour, until bubbling and golden.

7. Cool slightly and serve warm.

Serving Tip: Serve with vanilla ice cream and a glass of Bells Up Firebird Syrah for a dark-fruit pairing that surprises in all the right ways.