Want to make rhubarb wine? Patience required

For those thinking it’s easy to produce award-winning homemade drinks, Deborah Colella is here to set you straight.

It’s hard to imagine anybody started prepping for the Jefferson County Fair before the 70-year-old Boulderite, who set aside her rhubarb in mid-2024 with an eye toward the wine she made for last weekend’s food and drinks competition.

“It’s a year-long process, or a bit more,” she told The Monitor on Saturday, after judges awarded first-place ribbons to her rhubarb wine and chokecherry cordial.