Barbeque and Wine: Flip, sip, eat, repeat! 🍷 

When pairing barbequed foods and wine, it’s all about the sauce. The ingredients can vary, but barbeque sauces often contain tomato sauce/paste (ketchup), onion powder, black pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chilli flakes/powder, vinegar, sugar, honey, cumin, and other spices.

There are four basic barbeque sauces: Tomato-based, mustard-based, mayonnaise-based, and vinegar-based and you can pair your wines with any of these sauces. Most barbeque sauces are bold and flavourful, so you want a wine that can stand up to these flavours and the meats (seafood excluded) on the grill.

Sweet/Fruity BBQ sauces (often on pork or chicken)

Red wines: Petite Sirah, Merlot, Dolcetto, Bonarda, Monastrell, Tannat, or Pinotage

Rosé wines: Sangiovese, Grenache/Garnacha, or Zinfandel

White wines: Off-dry Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, or Muscat

Classic Tomato-based BBQ sauces (often on white and red meats)

Red wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Bordeaux-style red blends, Carménère, Zinfandel (Primitivo), Shiraz, /Grenache/Garnacha, Sangiovese, Malbec, Pinot Noir or Gamay

Rosé wines: Syrah, Tempranillo, or Pinot Noir

White wines: Savatiano, Torrontés, California Chardonnay, Viognier

Spicy Sauces (often on white and red meats)

Red wines: Zinfandel (Primitivo), Australian Shiraz, Frappato, Pinot Noir, and Schiava

Rosé wines: Zinfandel, Sangiovese, or Mourvèdre

White wines: Off-dry Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Torrontés, Muscat

Cheers, The wine critic🥂