Organic Wine & Pie Pairings

National Pie Day History

National Pie Day was established in 1975 by then grade school teacher Charlie Papazian in Boulder, Colorado, in a simple declaration to his kindergarten, first and second grade students that his birthday, January 23, would be National Pie Day. He filed the proper paperwork to have the holiday established nationwide and the rest is history. Papazian’s Halloween costume that year was a giant blueberry pie. National Pie Day celebration eventually spurred the creation of the American Pie Council, an industry trade group that brought to life Papazian’s dream of a pie bakeoff at the Great American Pie Festival, now the National Pie Championship. While Papazian went on to establish the now world-famous Great American Beer Festival, we have it on good authority that he does appreciate good organic wine & pie pairings as well!

A Brief History of pie, courtesy of the American Pie Council:

• Pie has been around since the ancient Egyptians. The first pies were made by early Romans who may have learned about it through the Greeks. These pies were sometimes made in “reeds” which were used for the sole purpose of holding the filling and not for eating with the filling.
• The Romans must have spread the word about pies around Europe as the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the word pie was a popular word in the 14th century. The first pie recipe was published by the Romans and was for a rye-crusted goat cheese and honey pie.
• The early pies were predominately meat pies. Pyes (pies) originally appeared in England as early as the twelfth century. The crust of the pie was referred to as “coffyn”. There was actually more crust than filling. Often these pies were made using fowl and the legs were left to hang over the side of the dish and used as handles. Fruit pies or tarts (pasties) were probably first made in the 1500s. English tradition credits making the first cherry pie to Queen Elizabeth I.
• Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early colonists cooked their pies in long narrow pans calling them “coffins” like the crust in England. As in the Roman times, the early American pie crusts often were not eaten, but simply designed to hold the filling during baking. It was during the American Revolution that the term crust was used instead of coffin.
• Over the years, pie has evolved to become what it is today “the most traditional American dessert”. Pie has become so much a part of American culture throughout the years, that we now commonly use the term “as American as apple pie.”