The flavor of a food almost always reveals the quality of a wine and exalts it. In turn, the quality of a wine complements the pleasure of a food and spiritualizes it. – Luigi Veronelli
I love springtime in Colorado. Some people don’t because of the rain and wind and late snow storms. I like how quickly everything greens up. I love the pink and white flowering crab apple trees, and the Radiant Plum trees in blossom. The chokecherries and other ornamental fruit trees display their best colors and fragrances of the year, and the delicate blossoms of the Cockspur Hawthorns look like snow on green leaves. The smell of the purple Lilacs fills the air, as well as the familiar smell of freshly cut grass. Most of all, I love the return to outdoor living and the smells that come from my grill. I have begun to receive questions about pairing wine with barbecued foods from friends and I thought this is a perfect topic for this next essay.
The first rule about pairing wine with outdoor grilling and barbecue is that there are no hard and fast unbreakable rules. The advice I give is mostly based on specific attributes of particular wines and how my wife and I prefer their pairing potential with whatever we happen to be cooking. So take my advice with a grain of salt, and then pour what you want!
My wife and I enjoy drinking wine in the summer while sitting out on the patio with some cheese and crackers. It may surprise some that our summertime wine of choice is usually white or Rosé and not red. For me, I feel that hot weather causes red wines to lose their aromas, and seem flabbier with less detectable nuances on the palate. The acidity found in many white wines can be desirable and wonderful on a hot day or warm evening. We typically have one primary white wine that we stock our cellar with, that we will emphasize each summer. Some of our past summer favorites include: Conundrum from Napa Valley. This is an unusual white in that it is a proprietary blend of usually Chardonnay, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and sometimes Muscat, Pinot Gris, and Viognier. Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region of New Zealand is a great wine that always makes me think of pears and citrus. Wine Spectator magazine has given this wine a 90+ rating for the last seven years in a row! The Rosé from George Hendry Vineyards in Napa Valley is a fantastic Rosé that will surprise because of its dryness alongside its acidity. We love the Chenin Blanc Vouvrays from the Loire Valley in France. In the past we have also enjoyed as our summer white the villages Macon Fuisse white Burgundy which is Chardonnay based.
Newton Unfiltered, Barrel Fermented Chardonay
This year we are drinking a Newton unfiltered, barrel fermented Chardonnay from Napa Valley. Other white wines that I have my eye on include the Josef Schmid Pepino, Rocca Bernardo, and the oaky Beringer Alluvian Blanc (a white meritage similar to Conundrum). These three wines are quite different in character, ranging from light and crisp to mellow, oaky and complex, all in an inexpensive context. We like to experiment to find a wine that is satisfying in a new way, but familiar enough to open up after work, or on a weekend afternoon. It may end up that we don’t connect with just one wine and stick with a myriad of offerings.
Remember that most barbecue sauces can be smoky or spicy, more or less sweet, mustard or vinegar based, which can all be challenging for wine pairing. That is why beer and margaritas go so well at a barbecue.
Sangria
Sangria is an excellent wine based drink that pairs well with most any type of barbecue. It is a festive, fruity, effervescent beverage that is fun to drink. Here is the first recipe I have ever posted:
One bottle red wine (I usually use a merlot, but any nice bottle will do)
One cup brandy (two cups also works well)
Two cups club soda
One half cup orange juice
One sliced lemon, lime, orange, apple, and 1 cup sliced strawberries
Lots of ice
The recipe for Sangria is fairly generic, but I think the brandy gives a good balance of alcohol, fruit and acid backbone, in addition to adding a lot of flavor that can stand up to a spicy rub or barbecue sauce. I personally like to have minimal sauce on the grilled meats. Otherwise, beef, pork, chicken or fish tends to all pretty much taste the same.
Zinfandel is a great red wine to pair with barbecued foods
And now for the recommendations for red wine pairings: Red Zinfandel is an excellent wine for barbecue. It is a classic American wine for a classic American cooking style, especially for a great American holiday like the 4th of July. Zinfandel has bold spicy flavors, usually with great fruit flavors. My own personal preference is to pair a Zinfandel that contains a lower percent of alcohol over higher, especially if the sauce trends towards the spicier side. I always feel the alcohol overly accentuates the oils that make spicy food and sauces spicy. Another great red for barbecued foods is a Syrah / Shiraz. These wines pair excellently with tomato based sauces that have peppery characteristics. For Old World wine choices, Chianti and Barbera d’Alba wines have higher acidity which is also great for tomato based barbecue. Côte Rôtie from the Rhone region of France also works well for the same reason. Grilled meats without barbecue sauce pair well with an expanded range of wines. A nice Cabernet Sauvignon, Meritage, or even something lighter, like Beaujolais, will work well with burgers and brats.
My own personal preferences gravitate to the white wines for pairing with barbecued foods. I feel that the crisp, intensely aromatic high acidity whites keep their flavor profile better with the extreme flavors of barbecue sauce. Off dry Rieslings work well with the sweeter sauces. I prefer the German and Austrian Rieslings to American or Australian Rieslings. New World Rieslings tend to be sweeter with higher alcohol than Old World offerings of the same varietal.
Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio
For mustard based barbecue sauces, try a dry white Pinot Grigio. My favorite is Santa Margherita. Sauvignon Blancs work well with grilled vegetables and shrimp. Champagne is actually great with barbecue and grilled foods, especially pork – the saltier the better. The effervescence, acidity and flavors are an excellent match with grilled meat. One wine that is often overlooked is Rosé. These wines are not only good for grilled food; they are great with fruit salads and smoked salmon. The one wine I really try to steer clear of with barbecue is Chardonnay. That is, unless you are drinking it as an appetizer with cheese and crackers.
Pairing wine with Mexican food can be tricky
Living in Colorado, we eat a lot of Mexican food. Mexican food poses special problems for paring with wines. Mexican basic fare includes refried beans, tortillas, and meat smothered in melted cheese with salsa and hot sauce. The typical mix with Mexican food is beer, Tequila and Margaritas. The most successful wines paired with Mexican food are those that are fresh, sleek, and crisp with high acidity. The best wines include Sauvignon Blancs, Pinot Grigio, dry Rieslings and Spanish Albarinos. Red wines that can pair well include Spanish Riojas, Chiantis, and chilled Beaujolais.
Be creative with the wine pairings. Less familiar wines can work great with barbecue and grilled meat. When smoking baby back ribs, instead of serving a California Zinfandel, try opening a South African Pinotage, or Hungarian Bulls Blood of Ayer, which is an elegant red blend mainly based on the Kélekfrankos grape.
Alsatian wines are excellent summer barbecue wines
If fish is on the grill, try serving an Alsace Riesling or Gewürztraminer from Eastern France. Another excellent summer red wine is Carmenere from Chili. Carmenere pairs well with chicken in red sauces or teriyaki or peppery dishes. Finally, Southern Italian wines such as Scavigna from the Calabraian growing region pair well with meat in red sauces and even pizza.
The key to pairing wines with summer fare cooked outdoors is to have fun and not over think it. For the most part stay away from Chardonnay and that big expensive Cabernet you’ve been saving. There are a lot of great inexpensive wines that make eating meals from the grill more interesting, especially when the food is eaten with family and good friends. It is always a good idea to match a wine geographically with any type of ethnic cuisine, whether Italian, Spanish, German or whatever. That is all for now.
Cheers,
Karl
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