Wine and Barbecue - Guest Post

You know, there's a lot of folks out there that think the best thing to drink with barbecue is an ice cold beer, and I have to admit that, in the heat of summer, doing an afternoon burger and weenie roast, in the park with a side of beans and corn, a frosty brew or ten, is just the ticket.

But, if you barbecue for dinner at your house, as often as I do at mine, and you're more of the metropolitan sort, I'll bet you enjoy some wine with your barbecue.  Seems a lot of people do.  That got me into a discussion with a purveyor of fine wines that I've known for...a long time, and I hounded him about attacking the subject in the written word, so I could add it to my blog.

Well, he finally agreed and I even got him to start his own blog.  His name is Pat Broderick, affectionately known as Pat, The Wine Guy, and this is the first post on his blog:

Initially it seemed a simple question, but as I started to formulate an answer it dawned on me that there is no simple response.

First, one must consider the different regional styles of barbecue: Carolina, Memphis, Texas and Kansas City, not to ignore the International flare of Brazilian churrasco, Argentine, Spanish , Asian and on and on.  All regions have unique aspects in rub, sauce, preparation and presentation, as well as certain factors in common.

Second, there is the base protein to consider: beef, pork and poultry; but the genre needs to be expanded to include the fruits of the sea and the sportsman's take of venison, wild fowl and game.

Third, you need to consider the most complex factor: the ambiance and the subjective nature of this question has to take into consideration; the time, place and people in the equation.

My initial approach to understanding wines was to learn the different regions, so, taking a similar tack with the regional styles should, in my opinion, lead to the inclusion of the other pertinent factors, hopefully with some final conclusion to sure-bet wines that enhance the barbecue experience.  It is difficult to spend over seventeen years as a fine wine consultant without developing an affinity for fine food as well, and my girth is testament to that!

In subsequent posts I will make an effort to share my insights on this topic and, hopefully, provide some views that will prove thought provoking and helpful in enhancing your enjoyment of fine wine and fine barbecue, and since this is an interactive experience, with the barbecue season fast approaching, I welcome your comments as I wend my way through this great and ever-broadening topic.

We've talked about it, and I do believe he's going to delve into his oenophilic thoughts, starting with Kansas City Barbecue.  My taste buds are already smackin'!

Pat is a great resource, working for Wine Shippers and if you want to follow him, you can do it at Pat,The Wine Guy or you can call him direct at 308-338-0006 or you can email him.  He won't bite, he doesn't sell you, and he doesn't call you when you don't want him to.  That's probably the reason we've been buddies for so many years...and yes, I even buy wine from him once in a while, too!

Grandville's Mardis Gras

Well, folks, it's been a little over a month and the LinkedIn group I'm moderating, Gourmet BBQ, has taken an interesting shape. With over a hundred members from around the globe, I'm gaining some great perspective, not only on the world-view of barbecue, but also on restaurant owners, bbq chefs and grill masters, suppliers, accessory and spice purveyors,  smoker and grill manufacturers, competition grill master events, fuel merchants, rubs, sauces, skewers and even wines!

I had no idea that the group would grow as quickly or cover such a diverse range of topics, or that I would be able to help so many people in getting their ideas and products in front of a new and expanding audience!  I made a couple of new friends, right off the bat, in Steve Gerst from Grandville's BBQ Jams, up in Washington, and a BBQ Master, Ken Fisher, author of Date Night Doin's, in Southern California, who does a lot of cooking with Steve's sauces.  Even made a little video for Steve, 'cuz he sent me some sauce, er...jam, so I thought his brand needed to have something that jammed!  Have a look at it here:

(Ken liked it so much,  I had to promise to make him one, too, which will appear in a later post, I'm sure.)

Anyway, Steve sent me a selection of his jams, which run from the Original Spicy to Extra Spicy, with Mild, Cajun, Pineapple and Ginger, in between.  Steve bills these as the "only bbq jams on the planet", and I reckon he's about right on that point!  I promised Steve I'd use them at an upcoming event and get some reactions for him, and maybe even blog about them if he didn't mind.  Well, he didn't.

I did a big ol' Cajun style barbecue for Mardi Gras, using three of his sauces (Original, Cajun and Extra Spicy) on boneless beef ribs, a couple of different spicy sausages, and country style pork ribs, served with red beans and rice, cornbread and some creole sides, different folks brought.  Drink of the evening was a choice between a Hurricane and a Mojito.

Well, it was a cool evening, outside, while it was pretty hot, inside, with zydeco music on the stereo, fancy dress costumes, hats, masks and a ton of beads.  That meant that the pork was taking a little longer to grill than anticipated. (Yeah, maybe I was imbibing a little early that night and my timing was a little off, distributing beads, or maybe the coals were responding to the cool March evening...take your pick, the result was the same...the pork was late!)

Beef, pork and sausage, slathered and ready for the grill

So, there were about twenty-five people at the affair, which my lovely wife and I had agreed to do a little later in the evening, since we didn't want to do a big sit down dinner and figured many of the guests may have already eaten something, especially by 8:30 or so when the first round of meat came off the grill. Well, I'll tell you what!  In the extra fifteen minutes it took to cut and finish grilling and seasoning the seven pounds of boneless pork ribs, five pounds of pre-cut boneless beef and four pounds of spicy, sliced sausage, grilled and dipped in Grandville's, disappeared like it was a carcass dragged away by ravenous, wild creatures of the night, baying at the moon!  Wasn't but another twenty minutes and the pork bowl was nothin' but finger lickin's to sop cornbread with.

Thing about this Grandville's BBQ Sauce, that they call a jam, it has a mellow flavor, so it doesn't overpower whatever meat you're using.  Sugar's low, so you can baste with it or dip with it. The spice comes in as an afterthought and the pieces of fruit and vegetables, finely chopped, not quite pureed, offer a richer texture and just a little twang to your bite.  Kind of like a...jam.

Maybe it was the night.  Maybe my well-healed and well-mannered company had forgotten to eat that day. Maybe it was my oh-so-exquisite skills at the helm of the grill.  Maybe it was the jam.

Nah...couldn't have been the jam...could it?