What to drink and with what foods?

A primer on summer grilled foods and the wines that go with them।


It's turning into a lovely summer, albeit a wet one-but I'll take summer any day over winter. Open windows, bed sheets dried on the line outside... I'm getting hungry for barbeque..... Anyone?

Here is a list of some backyard friendly grilled foods and the wines that complement them.

Grilled Vegetables in Phyllo pastry - We all love the crunch of Phyllo Dough hot out of the oven. The creamy texture of grilled vegetables with a layer of melted fresh goat cheese makes for a crunchy sandwich of sorts. I suggest using a dry Vouvray for this dish. Why? The crisp texture and bright acidity of the Vouvray acts as a foil for the smoky flavor of the grilled vegetable and caramelized goat cheese. The Chenin Blanc grape is very forgiving to grilled vegetables.
Hamburgers on the grill- Wait! STOP! Don’t just open a beer to go with your burger. This is just too easy to mess up. Find a wine from Germany. The grape isa a red variety is known as Dornfelder. This stuff rocks. The one I remember is about 15 dollars and is delicious with a hamburger that you should be able to grind yourself, composed of Beef Cheek, Brisket and Short Rib. Or throw some fatback in there for good measure. Even a good ole' American style Chuck Burger would work in a pinch.
Grilled Salmon. It doesn't get any easier than this to open your icebox and take out a tray or two of ice cubes. Add the cubes to a bucket filled 1/3 with water. Take a bottle of Pinot Noir from Oregon. This bottle shouldn't cost more than $ 20 or so. Place the bottle in the bucket of ice and water. Let sit for about 30 minutes while you prepare a grill. Rub a fillet of Salmon well with Kosher Salt, Pepper and fresh Thyme from your garden. If you don't have the Thyme then plant some! It will come back year after year and give your garden the scent of Southern France and the region of Provence. Grill the salmon until just done and set aside to "firm up". Open that bottle and dig in. Serve with Cole Slaw, Potato Salad and a glass of the Pinot.




Fried Chicken... Fried Chicken has a special place in my stomach usually reserved for foods that speak of the Southern United States. Not that fried foods only hale from the South, but I have had the very best Fried Chicken ever at Martha Lou's Kitchen in Charleston, South Carolina. Martha Lou would serve her fried chicken with a cup of sweet tea, but I serve mine with a wine from Australia, a crowd pleaser if you will. To my palate, Aussie Chardonnay vinified in Stainless Steel without any oak is most pleasing to me. This wine is crisp, inviting, easy to drink and very inexpensive, with most types priced less than Twelve dollars.


Watermelon- Wine with watermelon? Why not? I suggest a Vermentino from Corsica in Italy. Grown in volcanic rock outcroppings, this lively and fresh tasting wine is not complicated to drink. Usually these wines are served with seafood, but why should you have them with watermelon? The lively almost melon-like flavors of the wine, coupled with the refreshing quality of the watermelon speaks volumes of what tastes great with many different types of food. Close your eyes and sip. It reminds the drinker of being on an island, tucking into a bowl of watermelon gazpacho on a steamy summer night.
Pork Ribs slow cooked on the grill. I love pork. Although it surprised many people, I was born with a slice of bacon in my hand. Nothing says to me summer more than pork ribs, cut Chinese-Style (across the rib) from Hoeffner's Prime Meats; Butcher Shop in Morristown, New Jersey. Steve and his brother Martin brine their pork in a proprietary 10 % brine solution for a few days until the pork has "given up its secrets" and yielded to a softer tooth. Then grilled in a simple marinate of Ginger, Soy, Garlic, Nam Pla (Vietnamese fish sauce) and a dash of Mirin (Japanese sweetened rice wine vinegar) for a sultry, dark finish. I marinate my ribs in this mixture overnight. The wine should be something inky and rich, such as a CDR (Cotes du Rhone). The element of charred oak barrels coupled with the Mouvedre grape with a dollop of Syrah and a smaller dollop of Cinsault or Grenache make for a perfect grilled food wine. The flavors of dark in color, grade B maple syrup, the terroir of the earth, and dried leaves complement pork to a turn. Expect to pay no more than 10 or 15 dollars for a very delicious and most serviceable bottle.






On the subject of ribs, I have found that beef short ribs, when grilled "low and slow" for about an hour, just off the fire (in this case over hard-wood coals in a 10 year old Weber Barbeque grill) can be every bit as pleasing as short ribs cooked in a braising liquid in the oven for hours. In fact, I prefer the flavor of short ribs on the grill, as they don't dissolve into nothingness after a few hours. Plus, the smell of the char and smoke make for a lovely summer drink of wine. I'm getting thirsty just thinking about this combination. Which wine? Beef commands the use of Malbac from Argentina, or Carmenere from Chile. These almost syrupy wines can be considered better for beef on the grill than the old standby, Cabernet. And.... they cost only about 15 dollars a bottle. Try to find a decent Cabernet at this quality level at this price? Good luck!
Hot Dogs-What goes with hot dogs or even tofu dogs? Let's look at the components of a great hot-dog. First the roll, I prefer a Potato Roll, lightly toasted so the bread remains soft and generous. The roll will soak up any juices that have oozed out of a perfectly cooked snappy hot dog. Grainy German-style mustard? Dijon? Regular yellow mustard? Ketchup? Heinz only of course... This would be excellent resting on a Hoeffner’s' house-made beef, natural casing hot dog. Relish? Of course, made with nuggets of fresh sweet corn. And the wine? I might suggest a full-bodied Soave, made in the old style in lightly aged oak cask. The uncomplicated nature of Soave is a perfect foil to the snap and pop of a freshly grilled hot-dogs. Or Tofu Dogs if you will.

Rib Eye Steak-Say the word "Rib Eye Steak" and imagine charred bone and fat bursting with mineral beefy flavor, sizzling on a smoking hot, well-seasoned grill. Heat doesn't even start to consider the flavor of aged Prime Beef on the grill. Again, seek the consult of an old-style butcher (Like Hoeffner's in Morristown, NJ) who ages their meats for a minimum of 28 days. If your butcher does not age his meats, find another butcher who does. What wine with Rib Eye? Think of charred flavors, sweet and smoky...crunchy almost on the tooth. My favorite wine with grilled Rib Eye is Red California Zinfandel or a Rhone Ranger composed mostly of Mourvedre or Syrah. Red Zinfandel is similar to Primativio from Sicily. The Cali-Centric highbred of Old World and New World wine making techniques is perfect with grilled aged beef. Expect to pay about 15 dollars for a serviceable one. The aged beef will be expensive, but worth it.





White Zinfandel is not really wine, but it is a marketing concept. I suggest passing over that liquid fantasy, but drink in its stead, a fantastic lively Rose from Province.
Grilled Chicken-the sweet tomato tang of barbeque sauce (your choice) is perfect with a Rose from Province in France. Grill the bird as usual over hardwood coals. Serve with sweet corn-fresh snipped steamed green beans and homemade slaw. Expect to pay about 12 dollars or so for a wine that with its scent and racy acidity will create memories all on its own.
Chilean Sea Bass (currently not endangered) is all the rage at the local Whole Foods Market near us. This firm fleshed fish stands up to smoke and fire extremely well, but you may want to cook it in a basket so that it doesn't please the "grill gods" by falling through the grill grates eventually burning your supper. I suggest a firm, acidic-tropical fruit tinged, dry, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. These wines are crisp, refreshing and vinified only in Stainless Steel. These zesty wines carry through the flavors of grilled stone fruits and lip puckering lemon candy.



The same holds true for Red Snapper or 'head on' shrimp on the grill. On the topic of shrimp, never peel the shrimp before they go over the coals, the flavor will be true to the sea if you leave them unpeeled. Split them up the back with a knife (carefully!) to expose the dark vein. Remove it if you can. As a bonus, the color and flavor of the shells once they are grilled brings style to your plate. Once grilled, Shrimp are so easy to peel. If your fishmonger can supply the shrimp with their 'heads on' this added a lovely dimension of flavor almost unknown to the "normal" back-yard grilling palate, I'd love a plate right now of Grilled Shrimp n' Grits. The wine for this little endeavor would clearly speak of Pouilly Fume. The Loire speaks to me of minerals and scallop shells, dusky lime tinged wines with haunting personalities. They cost fewer than Twenty Dollars.
Turkey Burgers. What can be served with Turkey Burgers? Turkey as a rule is usually served with a number of different wines from Pinot to Dry Rieslings and everything in between. Expect to add a light chill to the wines, either red or white. Serve on a freshly toasted roll, lettuce, tomato, red onion, Heinz... you get the picture?
Lobster on the Grill screams for a rich white. A Rhone Ranger (Roussane) from California would be well matched with natural acidity to cut the mineral tang of the sea flesh. Split the lobsters in half, clean and grill with lemon zest, finely chopped shallot, finely chopped garlic, a splash of good Spanish Olive Oil and a splash of the wine you are drinking. Garnish with chopped Italian Parsley. You should not have to spend a bundle to get something delicious. Think 15 dollars (don't pay any more) and that is a bargain compared to what you will pay for the lobsters!
Peaches on the grill with vanilla gelato. It's almost Jersey Peach season! Slice these Stone Fruits in half, sprinkle with sugar and a shake of sea salt. Grill just off the heat in a grilling basket until caramelized and their color takes on a brownish hue signifying juicy and sweet. Scoop some Vanilla Gelato into a dish and spoon the hot grilled fruits and a homemade shortbread cookie over the top. Garnish with fresh spearmint. Serve this with a "dessert in a glass", a Spanish Oloroso sherry. These "forgotten" dessert wines shouldn't cost more than 10 or so dollars for a 1/2 bottle. There is more than enough for dessert, and they are delicious on their own, right out of the fridge.