Joe Hines, bartender at Williams & Graham, wins the Colorado Wine Cocktail competition

Last night at Green Russell, six local bartenders -- Joe Hines (Williams & Graham); Kevin Burke (Colt & Gray); Gerard Collier (Corner House); Ragen Horacek (Ace); Randy Layman (Steuben's); and host Adam Hodak, the star bartender of Bonanno Concepts -- battled for supremacy in the Colorado Wine Cocktail Celebration competition,...

By Lori Midson

June 5, 2013

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Last night at Green Russell, six local bartenders -- Joe Hines (Williams & Graham); Kevin Burke (Colt & Gray); Gerard Collier (Corner House); Ragen Horacek (Ace); Randy Layman (Steuben's); and host Adam Hodak, the star bartender of Bonanno Concepts -- battled for supremacy in the Colorado Wine Cocktail Celebration competition, just one of the many grape-centric events taking place this week as part of Colorado Wine Week.

Each bartender was tasked with creating a cocktail using Colorado wines, and for the second year running, Hines strutted away with the title. The "Port of Life," his winning cocktail, the recipe of which is on the next page, was elegant, sophisticated and the kind of cocktail that you'd want to sip all season long.

Flip the page to see the highlights from last night's competition.

Winning Cocktail Recipe The Port of Life, from Joe Hines, Williams & Graham

Ice: Block Glass: Double old fashioned Garnish: Lemon zest

Ingredients: 1.5 ounces Creekside Cellars LBV Port 1 ounce Linie Aquavit 0.5 ounce Domaine de Canton 1 dashe Peychaud's BItters

Method:

Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice and stir until chilled, then strain over block ice. Garnish with lemon zest.

For more photos, visit our full Colorado Wine Cocktail Competition slide show.

Follow @CafeWestword

KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.