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BBQ season is officially here.
Longer evenings, something sizzling on the grill, and that first glass poured before everyone’s even arrived. Whether it’s a last-minute gathering or a full-day affair, BBQs are one of the easiest (and best) ways to get people together.
Smoky, succulent and completely unique in its ability to define a mood and a moment, barbecue as a cooking technique is focused on highlighting and enhancing individual ingredients, rather than creating a complex layering of flavours over long periods of time, as you would with slow cooking. Barbecuing is about cooking quickly, it epitomises the phrase ‘colour is flavour’, and it’s usually focused on feeding the five thousand.
We take a similar approach to pairing wines with charcoaled foods as we do with cooking them, opting for wines that are clear and fresh, perhaps with a smoky or saline edge that are going to highlight notes in the food, rather than big bodied, bold wines with hours' worth of complexity.
When it comes to choosing a bottle for your barbecue table, it’s best to avoid anything too full-bodied or overly complex. The food you’ve been sweating over needs to be allowed to sing alongside a well-placed accompaniment, without being overpowered by it.
It’s best to avoid wines that offer particularly hefty tannins as, without anything particularly rich from the food to balance or soften them, you’ll be hit with some serious astringency from your wine of choice. While we hope sunnier weather might steer you away from the full-bodied reds anyway, we thought we’d reiterate it for those stuck in their ways.
At the same time, anything that's too light and delicate will easily be overwhelmed by and lost to the juicy, concentrated foods coming off the grill.
Light to medium bodied, fruity reds from cooler climates work really well with anything cooked over the coals – think Pinot Noir, Negroamaro, or maybe a Beaujolais from the Gamay grape. The best way to celebrate the smoky, savoury notes of barbecued food is to opt for a wine with smooth textures and a savoury edge - by that we mean notes of earth, smoke or herbs.
Barbecue season tends to fall simultaneous to rosé season (although the latter seems to have few limitations for when it might kick off and end...) so this is where a key tip from the Sociovino team comes in full force: colour is flavour! While pale rosé quenches summer thirst like few other drinks, when it comes to pairing wines with your evening barbecue, darker rosés are a cracking option, the extra colour often signifying some firmer fruit flavours and fuller bodies which are needed to stand up to the smoky barbecue flavours. Save the paler bottles for the beach, then brighten up your dining table with bolder colours and bigger flavours - and don't forget, more colour on a rosé doesn't necessarily mean more sweetness!
Here are three recommendations for bottles particularly suited to your upcoming barbecues, whether you’re hosting for a Bank Holiday, or just looking for something to mix up your mid-week al-fresco dinners, come rain or shine. We like to think of these as 'all-weather wines', so they're perfect for the British Summer (or Not-So-Summer).
If you’re choosing wine for a BBQ and want something a little different from the usual suspects, Calabria Rosso from Tenuta del Conte is a brilliant pick. Lighter, fresher and incredibly drinkable, this is a red that can happily take a light chill — exactly what you want on a warm day around the grill. Expect bright red fruit, a hint of spice and a subtle savoury edge that works beautifully with smoky, charred flavours.
Its real strength lies in its versatility: it’s juicy enough to enjoy on its own while you cook, but still has the structure to handle everything from grilled vegetables and sausages to pork chops and grilled steak. When thinking about the best wine for a barbecue, bottles like this hit the sweet spot — refreshing, unfussy, and perfectly suited to long afternoons where the food (and the wine) keeps flowing.
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BBQ season calls for something a little playful, and this is the bottle to reach for. Caiaffa’s Nero di Troia Rosato Pét-Nat brings a gentle sparkle to the table — light, refreshing, and perfect for easy, sociable drinking by the grill. That natural fizz lifts everything, cutting through smoky flavours and adding a bright, juicy edge to each bite.
Expect lively red berry notes, a touch of wildness, and a zip of freshness that works brilliantly with anything from charred vegetables to grilled prawns, burgers or spicy sausages. It’s the kind of wine that keeps things moving — slightly unconventional, endlessly drinkable, and ideal for long afternoons that turn into evenings. Chill it down, pop it open, and let it do its thing while the barbecue takes care of the rest.
No guide to BBQ wines would be complete without a versatile white, and Amoterra Verdicchio is a standout pick. Crisp, textured and quietly complex, it offers bright citrus, stone fruit and a subtle almond note that makes it incredibly food-friendly.
What sets Verdicchio apart when choosing wine for a BBQ is its ability to handle smoky flavours without getting lost — it has both freshness and structure, making it ideal for grilled fish, prawns and Mediterranean-style dishes. It also works beautifully as an aperitif while the barbecue heats up, making it a reliable, go-to bottle from the first pour to the last plate.
If you remember one thing, make it this. Buy wines people will want a second glass of.
That’s it.
Not too serious. Not too expensive. Not too heavy.
Just good, delicious, easy wine.
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