(Contributed by Kevin Fagan) Warm weather ushers in the fun tradition of hosting family BBQ parties. Grills and smokers nationwide are lit up and filled with succulent meats, veggies, and even pizzas and grilled fruits.
While it’s common for many people to crack open a cold beer or soda to enjoy with these BBQ delights, others enjoy pairing their grilled treats with wine.
If you want to try this idea, here’s our guide to hosting a wine-centric BBQ party.
#1) Create An Inviting Atmosphere
While most wine tastings are elegant and sometimes even highly formal, a wine-tasting BBQ party can be pretty laidback since it’s in the comfort of your home. Considering the outdoor set-up, ensure enough space and seating for your guests.
Even if it’s a relaxed, casual get-together, go the extra mile to create a memorable ambiance with ample lighting, well-ventilated spaces, and maybe a little decor. You can also strategically use fairy lights and decorations to cover the not-so-attractive features of your backyard, like garbage bins, built ladders, or an old, rusted HVAC unit.
For those with garden spaces, ensure the bushes are trimmed, and the lawn is well-mowed to create an aesthetically pleasing environment. After all, healthy plants automatically elevate the atmosphere of a space. If your garden is semi-indoors on the patio, porch, or deck, you must install a durable greenhouse covering plastic; this won’t just protect and keep your plants healthy but will also create a cozy, sheltered area for guests if the weather changes.
By making such minor adjustments and playing some killer tunes, there’s no way your party won’t be a total hit. You’ll have a perfect amalgam where the rustic outdoor BBQ meets the elegant affair of tasting wines.
#2) Identify Guest List And Wine Stock
Another essential aspect when planning a wine tasting is determining the number of guests. A 750ml bottle is about five standard glasses when considering the amount of wine needed. Having a second bottle of each wine for larger gatherings is advisable.
For instance, ten people will require two bottles of each wine. You can also turn the event into a potluck wine tasting where you and everyone involved will contribute with one to two wine bottles based on the theme; this way, you can also keep the cost low.
Consider the duration of your wine tasting because that determines how long everyone will be drinking. A safe estimate is about two glasses per guest per hour, so a three-hour event with ten guests would amount to twelve bottles or an entire case.
#3) Plan Your Wine Selection
Matching food and wine is an age-old practice. So, understanding why certain wines pair well with different types of food is crucial for making the correct wine selection based on availability. This knowledge helps enhance the dining experience by ensuring a harmonious combination of flavors.
Bold Reds With Grilled Red Meats
You can never go wrong with pairing fatty, umami red meat to balance the wine’s tannins in red wines.
Red wines with flamboyant flavor profiles and a hint of sweetness make an excellent pairing for pork dishes. Some examples include Zinfandel, Ruby Port, and Pinot Noir. You can also serve Riesling as a palate cleanser.
Beef and lamb pair well with complex, peppery tobacco flavor profiles, especially with grilled dishes. Chianti, Shiraz, Tempranillo, Bordeaux, and even Cabernet or GSM blends make a perfect choice.
Full-Bodied Whites With Grilled Lean Meats
Whites with fruit-forward, herbal notes par well with chicken. If you prefer lightly flavored dishes, citrusy, grassy wines like Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo are great. For sticky, saucy chicken dishes, sweeter options like Gewürztraminer, off-dry Riesling, and White Zinfandel are better.
Rich, fatty fish like salmon works perfectly with velvety wines like Viognier, White Rioja, and Chardonnay; they can also work with light-bodied reds like Beaujolais and Pinot Noir. Choose zingy wines for lean white fish; these include Friulano, White Vinho Verde, Verdejo, and Colombard.
Sparkling Wines and Roses with Grilled Fruit and Veggies
Don’t forget to throw some veggies and even fruit on the BBQ. Grilled zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes and even peaches and plums are delicious as a side dish, or even main course. Consider a veggie shish kabob.
These types of treats pair especially well with lighter and fruiter wines, such as sparkling and rose wines.
#4) Consider Wine Temperatures for Your BBQ
When preparing for a backyard barbecue, it’s helpful to chill white and rosé wines the night before to save time in the morning. Alternatively, place the bottles in a large bucket filled with ice and cold water an hour before guests arrive to chill them quickly.
For red wines, add them to the ice bucket just before guests arrive, ensuring they are not ice-cold. To prevent the red wines from getting too warm in the sun, keep them partially submerged in the ice or use an extra cooler with an ice pack. This ensures that all your wines are served at the perfect temperature during the party.
As a general rule of thumb, always remember to maintain the following temperature for different types of wines:
- White wine: 40-50 °F
- Red wine: 55-65 °F
- Sparkling wine: 40-45 °F
- Dessert wine: around 55 °F
#5) Gather Fun Wine Supplies for Your Wine BBQ
You will need supplies for your wine-tasting BBQ party, so keep everything ready in advance.
This is the go-to checklist of the items you may need:
- Have at least a couple of wine openers on hand.
- Set aside about two wine glasses per person and have a few extra on hand in case some break. You can also rent glasses.
- Alternatively, you can also choose stemless, plastic wine glasses; these are shatterproof, convenient, and won’t tip over during the bustling environment of a BBQ party.
- Get wine charms so guests can quickly identify their glasses as they interact.
- Water acts as a palate cleanser, so have plenty of it available for your wine tasters.
- Use a foil or bag covering to hide the wine labels for blind tastings
- Provide guests with tasting sheets or scorecards to make notes of the wines they’re tasting.
- Arrange basic stationery like pencils, pens, and erasers for the notes.
- Provide a spittoon for guests who wish to spit out the wine during the tasting. Guests can also use it to dump any excess wine they may still have in the wine glass before moving on to the next one.
That’s A Wrap
Now that you understand the complexities and crucial elements of hosting a wine-soaked BBQ party, it’s time to put your plan into action by buying your meats and wines, inviting dear ones, and having a blast!
Optional: Consider a Theme for your Wine BBQ
If you’re new to wine tasting, the five S’s stand for sight, smell, swirl, sip, and savor.
Theming up your wine-tasting BBQ will make the event more focused while sparking exciting conversations and exchange of wine knowledge.
You can set a theme based on the following considerations:
- Blind tasting: Hide the labels so everyone can taste test and rank the wines by being unbiased; you can keep it simple by having one wine type, like dry whites, or make it complex by using different kinds of wine.
- Region-Specific Wines: Explore the influence of terroir by sampling different wines from a single region, such as Loire Valley Cabernet Sauvignon or Yakima Valley Merlot wines.
- Grape Variety: Choose wines from the grape variety. For example, reds like Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon, whites like Chardonnay or Pinot Gris, Rosé blends, etc.
- One Wine From Two Or More Regions: Compare a single wine style. For example, compare Chardonnay, a dry white wine, from different regions, such as Napa Valley, Burgundy, Chablis, and Sonoma Coast.
- Horizontal tasting: Compare different wines from one specific vintage to understand the vinification styles of different winemakers.
- Vertical Tasting: Select one wine from different vintages to review how the climate and storage over the years affect the wine’s alcohol content, flavor, appearance, etc.