Which wines to crack open for summer BBQs: big reds for meats and flavourful whites for seafood and veggies. Seven Deadly Zins, Menage a Trois, Innsikillin Riesling, St. Nicholas Cider and Errazuriz Sauvignon Blanc.
Do you have to pay much a lot for good wine? No, and here’s why.
We chat about this and other tasty topics on CJAD radio, one of the largest morning talk shows in the country.
Wines for Summer BBQ, Picnics, Seafood: CJAD Radio
Barry: 7:41 summer’s here, although it’s kind of tough to tell this morning, but summer is here. So what wines go best with barbeques and warm sunny days. That’s a question for Natalie MacLean, Natalie’s a wine expert. You get all sorts of terrific information from here website, nataliemaclean.com. Natalie, good morning.
Natalie: Good morning, Barry, how are you?
Barry: I’m well, how are you?
Natalie: I’m great, thanks.
Barry: So what makes a wine ideal for summer, Natalie?
Natalie: There’s a wide range. I would say it would just have to be wet, but no.
Barry: Good enough. See you later.
Natalie: Yes, exactly, I’m done. Well, we look at a wide range of reds and whites because barbeques, traditionally, Canada Day barbecues aren’t just about big, hunking slabs of meat, although many of us still love that.
Barry: That’s true.
Natalie: We’re grilling seafood and portobellow mushrooms and veggies and so on. So whether you are a white or a red wine lover, there’s a wine for you. Now, that said, I would pick wines that do have full flavour whether they are reds or whites. So where would you like to start?
Barry: How about red?
Natalie: Okay. So you’ve got burgers or steak, or even grilled pork chops, whatever you’ve got on the grill, meat-wise, I would go with a full bodied red. One of the ones that I like, even for the label alone, but the stuff inside the bottle is good too, is called Seven Deadly Zins.
Barry: Oh, I like that.
Natalie: Yes, it’s a Zinfandel from California. Zinfandel is plush; it’s got big, juicy, black plum flavours and aromas. This is a dry wine. Those are the fruit flavours that come through. It’s not tannic. Tannic is that furry mouth feeling you get if you drink over steeped tea. You don’t want that with grilled and chary flavours of your meat. You want something that’s juicy and vibrant. So that’s a terrific red to start with. Ménage a Trois, another fun named wine.
Barry: Excuse me, oh, I see, we’re still talking wine. Okay, thank you very much.
Natalie: Don’t get off topic.
Barry: I won’t.
Natalie: So it’s Folie a Deux, Ménage a Trois, another California red. It’s a mix of red grapes, Cabernet is in there. Again, juicy, delicious, very giving. I like that in a wine.
Barry: Okay, how about some white wine suggestions?
Natalie: So if we go for a zesty white, zippy wine, we can try Inniskillin Riesling from Ontario. You know what I also love is St. Nicholas Cider. If you want a bit of lower alcohol from Quebec, a lovely apple zest. It’s wonderful with fresh seafood. That would be Inniskillin Riesling or Errazuriz Sauvignon Blanc. Errazuriz, I know that’s a tricky one to get your tongue around but it’s actually easy to drink. It’s from Chile, zesty, like salad in a glass.
Barry: As long as you don’t have to pronounce it and just consume it.
Natalie: Yeah, you just point to the bottle and say “pass me that”.
Barry: Exactly. Natalie, I don’t like to spend a fortune on wines and I suspect most people don’t. Does that mean I have to settle?
Natalie: No, you don’t have to settle at all. That Errazuriz Sauvignon Blanc is $13.78 cents, thank you.
Barry: Oh, there you go.
Natalie: The Cider is $12, the Ménage a Trois, $17. I mean, I do focus on wines, that are reasonably priced because you know most of us don’t have a trust fund, so…
Barry: That’s fair enough. Natalie MacLean is the author of the bestseller Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines. She’s also editor of Canada’s largest wine site and you could check out more of her picks and food pairings at http://www.nataliemaclean.com. Pleasure speaking with you.
Natalie: You too, Barry. Have a great long weekend.
Barry: And you, cheers! It’s 7:45.
