How to pair wine with grilled food — plus five great BBQ-friendly bottles at the LCBO

Consider the sugar

If your idea of fun is mopping your meat with a smoky-sweet barbecue sauce as it sizzles away, get comfy with a kiss of sugar in your wine. This is because bone dry wine tends to taste too tart with sweeter foods.

A pairing that works very well is sticky barbecued pork ribs with the NV Smoky Bay Shiraz from South Eastern Australia (LCBO 17650, $11). This lighter-weight, smooth expression of plummy Shiraz with its zippy acidity and smoky-spicy undertones is downright gluggable. Score: 90

Match intensity

If you’re experiencing a fish-grilling obsession (like me) or even just like to do so on occasion, you must taste the 2023 Vignobles Paul Mas Sauvignon Blanc, IGP Pays d’Oc (LCBO 37949, $13.95), which is new to the LCBO. Pour this brilliant wine with a piece of grilled halibut. Prepare the fish simply, with a few swipes good olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. Divine.

The wine smells sunlit and pure, like tree-plucked lemons and sliced pink grapefruit with the slightest suggestion of bay leaf and thyme. The attack is star-bright, bone dry and beautifully balanced — a flood of vivid lemon-lime vinosity laced with crisp green apple, each sip tapering to a long, slow, saline finish. Just delightful for about the price of a song. Score: 95

This pairing works for a lot of reasons. But a big one is that the wine and food hover around the same level of intensity. One doesn’t overpower the other.

If you grill a rib-eye rubbed with a spice, then you can haul out a heartier red. Just remember it’s summer, so don’t serve something so bold it tastes spoonable or soupy in the sun. Summer calls for refreshment. Which is where a good Valpolicella comes in.

The supremely drinkable 2022 Bolla Valpolicella Classico DOC, Veneto, Italy (LCBO 16840, $16.55) is an excellent summer wine for grilled steak. It tastes sprightly and pure-fruited with enough cherry stuffing to stand up to the meat, but not so much as to taste palate coating. Then, a soft sifting of black, pink and green peppercorn emerges on the finish. Easy choice that’s worth more than its price tag. Score: 92

Mood matters

And then there’s that little thing called happiness.

Food and wine taste best when you’re happy. It’s true. Read about it here. In short, nothing influences the flavour of a wine as much as how we feel when we taste it.

That’s a good reason to really get into the pleasure of it when you open a bottle of wine and start grilling some food. Sure, follow sensible guidelines as suggested but have fun with it. And if you’re stuck for inspiration, nip over to the LCBO and pick up a bottle of the 2023 Leyda Reserva Sauvignon Blanc, D.O. Valle de Leyda, Chile (LCBO 36815, $16). Then, serve it with grilled halloumi. It’s a match sure to elevate any mood.

The wine smells of immediacy. It draws you in with its sassy scent then beams in, tasting brisk with salted lime, apricot, green pineapple and passion fruit. Soon, a quietly mineral note emerges, too. This new white packs serious thrills, especially with a sliver of that salty cheese hot from the grill. Score: 93

After all, what could be better than cheese and wine? Grilled cheese and wine, of course.

Don’t discount bubbly

One of the best wine styles for grilled fare is actually sparkling. It’s naturally high in mouth-watering acidity, low in alcohol and is famous for its bright attack of sheer-fruited goodness. The style beats the heat. All that matters is that the grilled fare doesn’t overpower the fizz. Lambrusco and pizza, Cremant and crab legs, Prosecco and prawns. Put these prime examples on your to-do list. Or you can get fancy.

A fabulous match is grilled lobster tails and Champagne. Any good bottle will do. But the pairing is sublime.

A current favourite is the NV Taittinger Brut Réserve Champagne, France (LCBO 365312, $77.30). This fine French fizz exudes the soft fragrance of lemon, marzipan, tarte tatin and white peach with a note of honey butter, too. Then it streams in and drenches the palate in the best possible way. Each sip unspools with caramelized apple, pastry, praline and more, shifting and ethereal. Expensive but worth it. Especially with a piece of perfectly grilled lobster dunked in melted butter. Score: 92

Grilling season in Ontario doesn’t last long. So make the most of it with a stocked wine rack, including a bottle of Champagne for that special impromptu moment.