With the Summer months’ drawing closer, the perennial dusting off the barbecue takes place all over the country as optimistic Brits hope for the chance and the weather to enjoy some fantastic food in the great outdoors. This article aims to demonstrate how best to enjoy your Summer barbecues by ensuring that you use appropriate wines to help develop the flavours of the meat and to compliment the char grilled taste of the food. For many, red wine is purely an evening drink to be enjoyed with cheese and grapes at the end of a meal, or it is to be served with a rich hearty meat dish. However, red wine is just as suited to barbecue dishes as it brings out the flavour of the meat and the food brings out the textures and hidden depths of the wine.
Firstly, it is important to remember that although the colours might correlate, some red wines just aren’t suited to the flavours and textures of red meat. For example a glass of Chianti is best suited to poultry, pasta dishes and vegetables so will be perfect for vegetarian guests or those who like to enjoy white meat barbecue dishes like char grilled chicken. Other red wines such as Salice Salentino and Brindisi are also great red wine complements for chicken dishes.
Fish can also be fantastic with rose wines and red wines. A fantastic recipe is char grilled salmon skewers with tomatoes and Italian herbs complemented by a Pinot Noir or Pinot Noir rose. Barbecued salmon with a squirt of lemon juice is also fantastic with a light fruity rose or a slightly acidic New World Pinot Noir as often the rich flavours and fatty intensity of barbecued fish is too strong to work with subtler white wines.
Bordeaux Superieur is a fantastic breed of wine for barbecues as it is suited well to hearty meats, white meats but also Summer berry desserts. As it is velvety, soft and harmonious it is not too heavy or potent for a barbecue event. Generally for red meat, wines made from classic Bordeaux grapes are particularly well suited, so for instance wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and other lesser known varieties. In Argentina for example, where beef and steak are a staple of the national cuisine, Malbec is often the wine suggested. However, if barbecuing the meat using a peppery marinade, or even garnishing with peppery seasoning, then the red meat will be best suited to an equally peppery and flavoursome wine including grapes such as the Shiraz or Mouvedre, or even a blended wine of the two.
As previously suggested New World Pinot Noir is excellent with fish dishes, but it also goes really well with lamb and minted lamb, as the New World Pinot Noirs are generally lighter and fruitier than their French counterparts. Thus they make a fantastic contrasting opposition to the rich intense flavours of lamb. In Burgundy, however, where the Pinot Noirs are heavier and more intense, the red wines are stunning complements to barbecued steaks and thick herby burgers.
In addition to pairing red meat, vegetables and chicken with the appropriate red wines, red wine cocktails can be the perfect addition to a Summer evening barbecue as the wine will bring out the depths of barbecue flavourings but the added lightness of the mixers and spirits make it a more light and fresh drink for the event. Perhaps the most renowned red wine cocktail is Spanish Sangria. Although recipes vary depending on which area of Spain you visit and which family you ask, essentially Sangria is a mix of red wine, lemonade, mixed fruit and ice. However, perhaps the most tasty and full-bodied flavour comes from Sangria made from red wine, lemonade, brandy or Bacardi, Cointreau or Grand Marnier, slices of orange and lemon, a few teaspoons of sugar and ice cubes. The sugar is not a necessary ingredient but some argue that it helps bring out the different flavours. Others mix honey in.
Another fantastic accompaniment for a Summer evening barbecue is the red wine cocktail Red Wine Cooler which is a fantastic Summer drink. It is a tangy combination of red wine, lemon-lime soda and ginger ale and is ideally complemented by a twist of lemon and served in a tall glass with ice cubes. Half of the drink should be the red wine with the other two making up a quarter of the drink each. The benefit of cocktails is that they have the depth of flavour of red wines but are more summery and lighter when accompanied by a mixer and other spirits.
