It’s time to think of wine when you fire up the grill. These days there’s something about the outdoors and all the exciting foods being grilled it’s the perfect accompaniment to a barbecue—besides it’s not as filling as beer or various cosmos and daiquiris!
There’s one snag with red wines, when you BBQ in the summer is that it can get really hot! In hot weather, red wines lose their aromas, seem flabby and less refreshing and spicy foods cry out for a nice-cool beverage, which is why beer and frozen drinks are popular.
Not to fear!
Crisp, intensely aromatic high-acid white wines, like Sauvignon Blanc, is great with grilled with grilled vegetables and shrimp, and is the best wine with tomatoes. Off-dry and slightly sweet Rieslings and Gewurztraminers pair really well with nicely with spicier and sweeter barbecue flavors. A cool Chenin Blanc is tasty as well with its flair for pears and apples.
Also dry rosé, the comeback wine of late is a summertime delight. Good rosés combine the juiciness and pick-me-up of chilled white wine but with uncommon and exciting flavors—that come from some of the red fruits typical of red wine, but also notes, orange rind, strawberries and fittingly watermelon
Please…don’t let anyone stop you! Some say dry rosé is the definitive wine for hot dogs!
And for the red wine drinkers…
Anything coated in barbecue sauce, with its smoky, spicy, and typically sweet flavors, is a challenge for wine pairings unless of course you pick the right wines.
A young, bold, spicy red such as Zinfandel, Shiraz, or French Côtes du Rhone will stand up to the barbecue flavors without a problem. Also a Chianti and a Barbera, with their higher acidity, are great too and guess what??? They will also handle tomato-based sauces.
Grilled meats, like steak, can work with a wider range of reds, including young Cabernets… Just don’t pick any older Cabernets. It’s better with the young ones. Veggies one the grill are outstanding too!
