BBQ Wines
JUNE 2025
Boekenhoutskloof (South Africa) - grill fire
Garzon Winery (Uruguay) — Annual Fire Dinner
Grilled meats are easy as pie to pair. But BBQ... it's tricky with that spicy-sweet sauce. The wines in this month's club would be great with most foods off the grill including meats – brisket, ribs & more – that are topped with that special, argued-over-what's-the-best-of-all-time, BBQ sauce!
Rosé tastes great with almost any food on planet earth including spicy dishes and dishes that have an element of sweetness. So, your bases are coved with BBQ!
Red wines are tricky with sweet elements as they can go tart, but Zinfandel, with its luscious, jammy fruit can hold its own. Perfect back-pocket wine for food pairings in general and especially good with BBQ.
Hope you love these wines! They're great with anything off the grill including BBQ! Take them to neighborhood or family events or enjoy them with grilled dinners at home. Both sing summer!
Les Vignobles Foncalieu
Foncalieu is a co-operative in Languedoc-Roussillon that has expanded to other regions, buying grapes and making well-priced wines in their honor. The grapes for your club rosé are from sun-baked vineyards just north of Aix en Provence. Terrific product. Hope you enjoy. In today's world, it's hard to get a Provence rosé for $15.
Chemin de Provence 2023 Coteaux d'Aix en Provence Rosé • Provence, France • Reg $14.99 | Mixed Case $11.99
Grenache 75%, Syrah 15%, Cinsault 10%. Strawberry, raspberry, pebbles. Pretty aromatic. Palate adds in a note of guava. Finish is minerally then dry. Perfect for grilled foods in general and terrific with a spicy-sweet BBQ sauce! Would also be great with grilled mushrooms as pictured below from the Parpinello winery in Sardinia.
Image credit: Randy Coporosa (via Lodi Wine) — Century-old own-rooted Zinfandel typifying Lodi's classic Mokelumne River appellation
Rubus Project
"The Rubus Project was created [in 1997] by Fran Kysela as a way to source & sell incredible wines at value prices. All wines in this international project are hand-selected by Fran Kysela. Rubus wines are fruit driven, true-to-type values that over deliver - a true representation of quality for the consumer at an excellent price." Today their portfolio includes wines from Napa Valley, Lodi, Barossa Valley (Australia), Waipara Valley (New Zealand), Colchagua Valley (Chile), Mendoza (Argentina) & many more. Great value.
Rubus 2019 Old Vine Zinfandel Reserve • Lodi, California • Reg $17.99 | Mixed Case $14.39
100% Zinfandel. Brambleberries, marionberry, blackberries, mint, herbs. Flavors are similar and big. Acidity is on point. This wine is crazy and fun!! S-E-X-Y. Can hold up to anything off the grill. Like fuller-bodied reds? Sip & enjoy. Pictured with grilled lamb. Could totally handle tangy BBQ sauce on a given meat off the grill.
Image credit: Randy Coporosa (via Lodi Wine) — Winter pruning of vertical cordon trained Zinfandel, Mokelumne River-Lodi AVA
A Note from Jens:
Your wine club pick-up tasting is always the 2nd Saturday of the month. This month's wines kick off summer! Hope you can make it.
You'll be able to taste the FLAGSHIP club wines as well. Theme is Friuli (northeastern Italy, border to Slovenia) with an indigenous white (Ribolla Gialla) and 2 reds: Refosco & Pinot Nero. Totally fun to go exploring in Italy! Hope you get to taste all 5 wines.
Cheers,
Jens Strecker, Owner
Portalis Wine Shop
If you are here because you’re curious about our wine clubs: Here’s more general info & online sign-up. You can also peruse the last 12 months of both clubs to get a feel for the themes we pick and the wines we showcase: Portalis EXPLORES (our everyday wine club) & Portalis FLAGSHIP (our signature club).