When it comes to pairing wine with food from the grill, people tend to reach for the usual suspects: Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay. However, the wine world offers a wealth of options that can elevate your BBQ experience.
Louis M. Martini Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Our Wine Journeys Weekend Wine this week… Cabernet Sauvignon is just about the perfect BBQ red. It has enough structure to stand up to full flavoured food off the grill and still enough refreshing acidity that your palate enjoys every sip. This wine is smooth and full bodied delivering an abundance of ripe blackberry, cassis, mint, and black cherry fruit wrapped in tobacco, smoke, spice, caramel, coconut, and vanilla. The added benefit is this Sonoma County red is both excellent quality and good value in the increasingly expensive world of California Cabs. A bottle of this recommended weekend wine would be perfect to enjoy with a Father’s Day BBQ.
★★★★+ (out of 5)
92 points
$24.95, on sale for $21.95 until June 20 (Vintages)
CASA SILVA GRAN TERROIR DE LA COSTA SYRAH 2016
An elegant, full bodied, expression of Syrah from the Chile’s Colchagua Valley (blended with 3% Viognier to give it some aromatic lift). It pays homage to the home of this style, the Côte-Rôtie in the Northern Rhone, where small amounts of Viognier are often co-fermented with Syrah. It has nuanced aromas and flavours of black and red plum, blueberry, blackberry, vanilla, smoked meat, eucalyptus, leather, and black pepper. It works nicely with robust meats and game.
★★★★½ (out of 5)
Vintages $19.95
ANGELS GATE GEWURZTRAMINER 2019
This wine may be hard to pronounce, but it is great to explore. Its ancestral home is Alsace, but a number of Niagara wineries have this grape in their vineyards. It is often made in an off dry style, but this version is dry with lots of body. In the glass, this wine is quite aromatic showing typical spice, lychee, and rose on the nose. The flavours follow the nose adding in citrus and an attractive Niagara minerality. Serve it with some mild curry or Thai food.
★★★½ (out of 5)
LCBO $13.95 (sale price until November 8)
La Celia Reserva Malbec/Cabernet Franc 2017
This medium bodied wine is from Mendoza, one of the best areas in Argentina for producing Malbec. What makes it interesting is the introduction of Cabernet Franc that lifts the aromatics by adding some red currant, red cherry, and pleasant herbaceous black currant leaf to the typical Malbec dark fruit. It’s dry with soft tannins and would be a good accompaniment for meats with a pesto pasta side.
★★★½ (out of 5)
Vintages $14.95
Tedeschi Valpolicella Capitel Nicalo 2016
Loved the tart red and black cherries, plums, and soaring acidity of this wine. Paired it with tortellini in a pancetta tomato cream sauce
Paul Jaboulet Aine Cote Rotie Les Jamelles 2005
A beautiful 2005 for the first BBQ of the season. Elegant wine with blackberry, black plum, black pepper, and cedar with leather and earthy forest floor. Still has tannic grip and good acidity. Paired with medium rare beef tenderloin.
The Roost Silk Purse Sparkling Red NV
Red sparklers are rare and this one from The Roost Wine Co in the Town of the Blue Mountains, Canada is amazing. It has dark fruit blackberry and cassis, but they dance across your palate lightly since this is sparkling. If you want to get some, you can order this online from them. Enjoy as an aperitif.
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