Pairing Wine with Barbecue (Pairing wine with Kansas City Barbecue, Memphis Barbecue, Carolina Barbecue, and Texas Barbecue, tasting and review of Lambrusco, Tempranillo, and Sangiovese)

Show Notes

Episode 35: Wine Pairing with Barbecue (Pairing wine with Kansas City Barbecue, Memphis Barbecue, Carolina Barbecue, and Texas Barbecue, tasting and review of Lambrusco, Tempranillo, and Sangiovese)  00:00

Hello! And welcome to the Wine Pair Podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime, Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair! 

I am super excited for our show this week because first, I got to do the intro again, and also because we are doing a follow-up on an episode we did several weeks ago where we talked about and tasted and reviewed wines for grilling season - it being summer and all. And today, we are going to talk about wines that go with barbecue. What?!? What’s the difference you ask?!? Isn’t a cookout the same as a barbecue? We are glad you asked because we are going to talk about it.

And super fast - for those of you who are trying out our podcast for the first time, what we aims to do is help you learn about wines and discover wines that are reasonably priced - meaning under $20 - that are high quality - or at least have a high quality to price ratio - and that you should be able to find in your local grocery store or wine shop or Costco or whatever.  Every episode we taste and review three wines, and, sometimes we do other stuff like interview people in the wine biz, but today it’s all about you and me and wine! And us! All of you!

Ok, but again today we are talking about wines that are good choices when you are making barbecue, going to a barbecue, or just ordering some barbecue from a local barbecue joint. Again, super quick, what is the difference between a barbecue and grilling? The difference is that barbecue is low and slow, and grilling is hot and quick. In other words, when you are making barbecued foods, you are cooking them at lower temperatures for a long time so that the meat gets very tender. Grilled foods are foods that are cooked at high temperatures, usually on an open flame, and where you are trying to sear them and cook them relatively quickly. Both will often use a marinade or rub to help tenderize the meat as well - but how they are used is different. And barbecued foods also tend to have smoked wood included in the cooking process. Some foods do real well in barbecue - beef and pork cuts that can be a little tougher - and don’t do well in grilling. And vice versa - some foods like seafood and poultry, and some cuts of meat, like steaks and burgers, do well in grilling but not so much when cooked barbecue style. 

Because of the differences between the techniques and the meats, as well as sauces and rubs, and the wood, the wines you might have between the two can be a little different. Today in this episode we’ll talk about different types of barbecue and the different types of wines that go with them, and we’ll taste and review three wines that we think will go well with different kinds of barbecue. 

And, for reference, you can check out Episode 29 called Wines for Grilling Season to learn more about what wines we think go well with grilled foods.

But first . . . we have to do our shameless plug, Carmela. If you wouldn’t mind, dear listeners, please consider subscribing to our podcast so you will always know when one of these new episodes is out and ready for you. We would love also love it if you would give us a nice a rating and review so people can find us and will think, hey, I should check this thing out!

If you want to reach out to us with ideas, or thoughts, or just to talk - you can DM us on Instagram at thewinepairpodcast or contact us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com.

And, as we do every week, we’ll tell you someone we think you should tell about The Wine Pair Podcast, and this week we would like you to tell the the person standing or sitting next to you in a public restroom. Is that weird? I think that might be weird?

Topic: You mean there are different types of barbecue?  06:31

I am a huge fan of barbecue. Are you more of a grill or barbecue person, Carmela?

I love barbecue because I love the way the flavors infuse into the food. I love a bit of smoke on my meats, and I love the tender quality of the meats when they are done cooking over a long period of time. There is something about the way the meat almost melts in your mouth at a good barbecue that really does it for me. And it is that low and slow cooking that makes that happen. 

I have an article in the show notes for how low and slow works, but the short story is this: low and slow ensures that the cut of meat cooks evenly inside and out, and the low and slow heat helps to render the fat - which means to melt it away - and breakdown the connective tissue - called collagen - into gelatin - both of which make meat moist and juicy. These things have to be done slowly and at relatively low temperatures. How low - usually in the 225 degree fahrenheit range. And how slowly? We are talking hours. 4, 6, 8 hours or longer. That is why tougher cuts of meat do so well in barbecue style cooking - and also in stews and roasts. Same principle, different techniques! Technique!!!

And, did you know there are different types of barbecue, Carmela? Any guesses on famous cities or states known for specific barbecue styles? 

While there are lots of different barbecue styles in the US, more than we could actually go through in this episode, we’ll talk about 4 prominent styles. And this matters because different styles will generally pair better with different wines. 

Overall, Carmela and I would always defer to more acidic wines when pairing with barbecue, or really any food, because wines with higher acid tend to go well with food and we think of wine as a complement to food - and we have a couple of acidic wines to taste today. But we also have one that is less acidic and more tannic because we also know that people like that style and so we want to be open minded to the possibilities!!!! And don’t worry about memorizing all of these wines and styles and crap - we will have all of this information in our show notes.

• Kansas City Barbecue
  • This style of barbecue is rubbed with a sweet seasoning that usually contains brown sugar and paprika, and then covered in a thick sauce that is ketchup-based and also uses brown sugar and molasses. I kind of feel that most of the barbecue we have around here is Kansas City Style.
  • The most famous KC Barbecue meats are smoked brisket burnt ends. But you can find ribs, chicken, pulled pork, and sausage as well. 
    • (Burnt ends are fatty, flavorful pieces of meat cut from the point half (superficial pectoral) of a smoked brisket. Their texture softens when they’re cooked into rich, Kansas City style baked beans.)
  • Because this barbecue tends to be on the sweeter side, the tendency is to go with bigger bodied and more tannic wines - like Cabernet, Zinfandel, and Malbec. Another choice would be tempranillo, which we are tasting today. Other similar styles could be Nero d’Avola, Grenache, Syrah, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. 
  • We would also suggest something that is high tannin and high acidity, like nebbiolo, sangiovese, and xinomavro. We are tasting a sangiovese today as well so there you go.
• Memphis Style Barbecue
  • This style is smoked - usually using hickory - and very associated with pork and pork ribs in particular, and there are wet and dry versions. The dry rub in this style also has brown sugar, but is a little more savory and has a bit more heat and spice. And, the sauce that is used is a thin and more vinegary sauce that also uses some mustard. I think when we get pulled pork at the store, it is probably in this style. 
  • Because this barbecue uses pork and usually a vinegary sauce, we would suggest having more acidic wines, and this is a barbecue you can pair with white wines. White wines would be the more acidic type like Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Soave, and Chenin Blanc. Sparkling wines would also work great, and we are going to drink a red sparkling called Lambrusco today. Red wines I would aim for are lighter body and wines you can chill like Cabernet Franc, and Gamay, or a Pinot Noir. 
• Carolina Style Barbecue
  • This style of barbecue is also pretty focused on pork, and uses a mopping sauce which is pretty heavy with vinegar. There are evidently different variations of Carolina barbecue depending on the region, but the key aspects are mopping being more prominent than dry rub, lots of vinegar, and often a spicy mustard.
  • Similar to Memphis Style, because of the vinegar and mustard, we would stick with higher acid wines. In addition to the wines we already mentioned, some white wines we would add to the list are Grüner Veltliner, Albariño, Chablis - or an unoaked Chardonnay. If you like Chardonnay, the oakiness would go better with a heavier Barbecue style - like the one we will cover next. Reds we would also add to the list are Aglianico and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, both from Italy.
• Texas Style Barbecue
  • This is the last style we are going to cover, and is known a little bit more for beef - including beef brisket and beef ribs, although it will cover any and all meats, and is also known for sausages. Rubs are used a lot in Texas Style, and usually are pretty heavy in chili-powder and mustard powder, and they are less likely to use a barbecue sauce - it is usually served dry. They may also use a mopping sauce during cooking  which tends to be thin and more associated with meat sauces like worcestershire. 
  • The red meat and chili-powder tends to lend itself better to bigger bodied and more tannic reds. So, in addition to the reds we listed with Kansas City Barbecue, we would add in a Rhone Style GSM blend for a red and for whites, an oakier and bigger bodied white like Viognier and Chardonnay would work well. 
  • I have had Texas style barbecue in Texas! I have been to the Salt Lick. All the others we need to go to those states to get that barbecue!

So, again, no need to memorize all of this. We will have information in our show notes, and I am going to add a blog post on our site where I will show some work I have done to organize red wines by body, tannin, acidity, and prominent fruit flavor.

AND, I also have a cool little chart that I posted on our website in our blog that helps you find different wines that you might like based on wines and wines styles you already know you like. So go to our website. OK?!? It’s easy. Thewinepairpodcast.com. That’s it!!!

https://www.thewinepairpodcast.com/blog/handy-chart-to-help-you-find-wines-similar-to-ones-you-like 

So, now that we know about some of the more prominent types of barbecue you might run into, let’s talk about the wines that we chose for this episode. 

ARTICLES

• https://www.robbishfood.com/science/2021/02/27/science-low-slow-bbq/#:~:text=the%20meat%20directly%20below%20the,this%20continues%20to%20cook%20throughout 
• https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-difference-between-barbecue-grilling-and-smoking-4586510#:~:text=Since%20traditional%20barbecue%20also%20needs,them%20during%20cooking%20as%20well
• https://www.webstaurantstore.com/blog/3728/types-of-bbq.html 
• https://winefolly.com/wine-pairing/never-fear-the-grill-wine-pairings-with-barbecue/
• https://dobianchi.com/2018/01/31/best-wine-pairing-barbecue/
• https://thecorkscrewconcierge.com/2018/05/this-may-seriously-only-bbq-wine-ever-drink/

Barbecue Wines We Chose for This Episode 18:40

For this episode, we wanted to take you down a little different and more adventurous path than you might usually go. I mean, we could choose the typical Cabernet or Chardonnay or Merlot, but no, we are not going to do that.

We are going to taste and review a few wines that you may have heard of but never tried, or have tried, but not tried this type of. And,we think these wines are good options for other types of wines you may like or may choose by default like Cabernet or Pinot. Are you ready?!?

Today, we are going to taste and review three red wines, one of which is a sparkling, and that is where we will start.

The red sparkling is a good alternative for a sparkling wine that is fun and different - called Lambrusco, and it can stand-up to different types of foods - like spicy foods, smoked foods, salty foods, and even heavily sauced foods due to its high acidity. Lambrusco can be dry to sweet like a lot of sparkling wines - although we like the dry style - and the sparkling in this style tends to be more on the effervescent side than the really bubbly style of a Champagne-style sparkler. There are different ways that Lambrusco is made, so we won’t go into all of them, but they tend to be made in more of a Prosecco style than a Champagne-style. They also come from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, which is in Northern Italy, and covers a broad area. The main city of Emilia-Romagna is Bologna, which some call the food capital of Italy, and the whole area is sort of set between Florence, Genoa, and Venice. We have never been, but some of the most famous foods that we take for granted come from this region - which includes Modena, Parma, and Ferrara.

I will just say, too, on a side note that for wine glasses for a sparkling red like Lambrusco, I would just use a normal wine glass, maybe a white wine glass, but you do not need to use a flute or coupe. There is a great article that I will have a link to in our show notes that does say that in Emelia where Lambrusco is from and they drink a lot of, they just put it in tumblers. 

The second is a good alternative for those of you out there who like Cabernet Sauvignon,Syrah, and Merlot - wines that are big bodied and high tannin and generally have a more plummy or red cherry flavor. The wine we chose is a tempranillo, which is most famously from Spain. This should go particularly well with Texas style barbecue, and Kansas City Style. 

And the third is another Italian wine that you may be familiar with, and may know better as Chianti when it is made in the Tuscany area - but it is also known by other names depending on where it is from - like Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello di Montalcino which are technically made from a Sangiovese clone called Sangiovese Grosso or Brunello; also Carmignano, Montefalco Rosso, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. When not made in Tuscany, the wine is known by its grape varietal name called Sangiovese. This Sangiovese is actually also from Romagna, so, it’s Italian but not from Tuscany, so not a Chianti. Chianti is a great wine for all different types of barbecue because it tends to be big bodied, high in tannin, and high in acid - which we love - and the main fruit flavor is a little more of a tart cherry, rather than the more jammy black cherry. And we will also note that Italy and I am guessing also Spain are pretty famous for outdoor cooking over wood fires. So these wines are naturally made to pair with smoky wines. 

So, all good options for barbecue, and all maybe a little different than wines you may usually choose which is really fun. So, I think we should get down to it. 

ARTICLES

• https://www.decanter.com/features/lambrusco-time-to-think-again-245735/
• https://imbibemagazine.com/tempranillo-bbq-friendly-red-wine/
• https://winedharma.com/en/itinerary/dreaming-of-sangiovese-the-best-friend-of-the-barbecue/
• https://dobianchi.com/2020/10/08/sparkling-wine-flute-champagne/ 

Ok, enough with this jibber jabber - let’s get to it!

Barbecue Wine pairing tasting and review - Lambrusco, Tempranillo, and Sangiovese) 23:55

Wine: Lini 910 Labrusca Rosso (Lambrusco made in the Charmat method)

Region: Italy, Emilia-Romagna

Producer: Lini 910

Year: NV

Price: $16.99

Retailer: QFC (Kroger)

Alcohol: 11%

Grapes: 85% Salamino, 15% Ancellotta (there are many different grapes that can go into Lambrusco)

Professional Rating: V 90

What we tasted and smelled in this Lambrusco: Grape juice, grape soda, cherries, cherry pie cherries, strawberry, black berry. Taste of tart cherry, cherry juice. Australian red cherry licorice. Fun wine. Dangerous. Goes down easy. Very dark. Great summer wine. Refreshing. Crowd pleaser.

Barbecue style to pair with: Pork slider, pulled pork, pork ribs. Beef ribs. 

As a reminder on our rating scale, we rate on a scale of 1-10, where 7 and above means that we would buy it, and 4 and below means that we are likely to pour it down the sink, and in-between we are likely to drink it and finish it, but we are probably not going to buy it. 

Rating: 

• Joe: 8/10
• Carmela: 8/10

Wine: Pico Cuadro Ribera del Duero

Region: Spain, Ribera del Duero

Producer: Pico Cuadro

Year: 2016

Price: $17.99

Retailer: Total Wine

Alcohol: 14.5%

Grapes: Tempranillo

Professional Rating: 90 Guia Penin, 90 WA

What we tasted and smelled in this Tempranillo: Ripe plum, black cherry, wood, musty, leather, tart, astringent, hot, spice, paprika, allspice, peppery, tons and tons of tannin. Spicy wine. Needs time to mellow. Got some class.

Barbecue style to pair with: Made for red meat, not really for pork. 

Rating: 

• Joe: 7/10
• Carmela: 5/10

Wine: Podere La Berta Sangiovese Superiore

Region: Italy, Romagna

Producer: Podere la Berta

Year: 2020

Price: $15.99

Retailer: QFC (Kroger)

Alcohol: 13%

Grapes: Sangiovese

What we tasted and smelled in this Sangiovese: Very cherry, cherry licorice, red cherry, smoke, sweet tobacco, wood, tar, molasses, anise. Very Chianti smelling wine. 

Barbecue style to pair with: Could go with basically any type of barbecue. Very versatile.

Rating: 

• Joe: 8/10
• Carmela:  7/10

Which one of these are you finishing tonight?

• Carmela: Lambrusco
• Joe: Sangiovese

Taste profiles expected from Lambrusco, Tempranillo, and Sangiovese wines:  43:22

• Lambrusco taste profile
  • Strawberry, blackberry, berry sauce, black or red currant, blueberry, cherry cola, rhubarb, hibiscus (also rose, iris, violet, and orange blossom), oregano, cocoa powder, potting soil, cream, watermelon, anise 
• Tempranillo taste profile
  • Black cherry, black fruit (blackberry jam, sugar plum), dried fig, raisin, cedar, cigar box, tobacco, dill, brown sugar, spice, black pepper, dried flowers, rosemary
• Sangiovese taste profile
  • Cherry, plum, blackberry, red currant, roasted tomato, sweet balsamic, oregano, espresso, pepper, fig, potpourri, thyme, leather, smoke, cured meat, tobacco, clove, cinnamon, vanilla, sandalwood, mocha, roasted almond

Outro and how to find us 45:12

As always, thank you so very much for listening to us, The Wine Pair, and you know, while you’re thinking about it, we think you should subscribe and give us a nice rating! 

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Thanks for listening to the Wine Pair podcast, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine