An Italian sommelier’s guide to late-season grilling.
September straddles the line between summer and fall. The fierce, unrelenting heat of summer is beginning to give way to a gentler warmth and an invitation to linger longer outside as the evening air cools—and to fire up the grill. But you don’t have to choose the same old bottles of ice-chilled rosés or heavy, oak-laden cabernets. There are far more compelling bottles to liven up a barbecue.
Katie Brillinger, sommelier and beverage director at The Americano, proposes looking past the standard varietals to the ancient slopes of Italy for pairing with grilling. For her, stepping outside the box isn’t just about finding a better flavor profile; it is a way to deepen the ritual of the gathering itself. “Nothing pairs better with quality time than lesser-known varietals,” Brillinger says. “What better way to connect with friends and family than by sharing something cool with them, like a grape from a place that they’d never heard of and time in front of a fire?”
Grilled Chicken and Fish
For delicate proteins kissed by the grill, Brillinger reaches for garganega, a native grape of the Veneto region in northeast Italy. It offers the rare combination of high-toned acidity and enough body to stand up to charred chicken skin. Pieropan “La Rocca” Garganega Soave Classico is crafted by one of the region’s oldest estates from organically farmed old vines. Aged in French oak, it pours an intense straw yellow with golden nuances. On the nose, Brillinger describes exotic fruits, yellow peach, dried apricot and sweet spices rounded out by honey and white pepper. On the palate, it is warm, elegant and smooth, making it a great partner for complex dishes.
Barbecue, Burgers and Ribs
When the menu turns rich and primal—hamburgers, barbecue and ribs—red wine is non-negotiable. But heavy alcohol will bog you down on a warm September evening. The antidote for Billinger is cannonau, the Sardinian name for grenache. Crabioni Cannonau di Sardegna is from a second-generation winery just 10 meters above sea level. These grapes are harvested still glittering with sea spray. The nose yields bright strawberry, cherry and rose hip alongside a distinct sense of ashen stone, clean earth and wild rosemary. On the palate, it is brilliantly juicy, Brillinger says. Wild raspberries and blueberries dance with savory undertones of fennel and licorice, offering the perfect tannic grip to cut through rich meats without being too weighty.
Grilled Vegetables
Late-season squash and zucchini carry a caramelized sweetness from the grill that demands a white wine with both tension and texture. Brillinger points to lugana, a white varietal. Buglioni “Gabriella” Turbiana Lugana is hand-harvested from an organically certified, family owned, single vineyard on the south side of northern Italy’s Lake Garda region. It opens with white flowers, cherry blossoms and green apples. The profile is crisp, balancing bright stone fruit against a rich, smooth texture and a distinct mineral salinity that makes charred summer vegetables sing.
Fresh Fruits
If you’re serving late-summer melons or fresh berries, look to the foothills of northern Piedmont for erbaluce. Ferrando Erbaluce di Caluso produced by a historic house founded in 1890. This mineral-driven white wine is celebrated for its crisp, alpine-air acidity from the ancient, native erbaluce grape. It has delicate notes of orchard fruit, starfruit and wild herbs that cut through the natural sugars of fresh fruit.
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