The 7 Best Wines to Drink When Grilling in 2026
La Fiorita, Domaine Mont Bessay, High Ranch Vineyard
As spring melds into summer and the days and nights truly warm up, we find ourselves lighting the grill more often. It’s the perfect opportunity to invite a few friends over for a casual evening outdoors, and on very hot days it saves us from heating up the kitchen. The best part about early summer is that we can still drink cellar temperature wines rather than cooling things down completely as we might have to later in the season. While we are partial to Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa or northern Sonoma when there is a juicy, thick cut of steak on the fire, for lighter fare like chicken, (whether just a breast or a whole, spatchcocked bird under a brick), pork chops, tuna, or Portobello mushrooms we like a lighter red such as Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, or Gamay. Whatever you choose, here are seven delicious reds to accompany your next barbecue.
-
Ferrari-Carano 2021 PreVail Lookout Tree Red Blend Knights Valley
Image Credit: Ferrari-Carano Established in 1981 by Italian American couple Don and Rhonda Carano—who added the Ferrari to honor Don’s grandmother Amelia Ferrari—Ferrari-Carano is known for its Italian varieties like Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio as well as those whose ancestral home is France. Made with 76 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 24 percent Cabernet Franc from a high-altitude estate vineyard in an area of Sonoma known for its impeccable Bordeaux-style blends, this wine ticks off all the boxes for lovers of bold reds. Aromas of raspberry, white chocolate, and lavender pave the way for flavors of black plum, pencil lead, caramel, and toasted baking spices wrapped in a sheath of lush tannins.
-
Domaine Mont Bessay 2021 Moulin-à-Vent Le Vieux Bourg Beaujolais
Image Credit: Domaine Mont Bessay From one of the finest crus of Beaujolais and one of the region’s best producers, this 100 percent Gamay is perfect when lighter fare is on the grill. Farmed using organic principles, this limited production wine is the epitome of well-made Beaujolais. Raspberry, purple plum, and vanilla cookie aromas set the scene for soft tannins and flavors of red cherry, pomegranate, and dried thyme with a vivid vein of acidity.
-
Skipstone 2021 Oliver’s Blend Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley
Image Credit: Skipstone Crafted by winemaker Laura Jones and consultant Philippe Melka, this 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from estate vineyards in Alexander Valley matured in French oak for 19 months and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. From a magnificent season that has been described as a winemaker’s dream, this wine has a nose of blackberry, clove, and milk chocolate. Extremely smooth on the palate, its flavors of blackberry, dark plum, cinnamon, and nutmeg are set into a sheath of plush tannins that gently drop off into a slightly drying finish.
-
Girlan Trattmann 2022 Pinot Noir Riserva Alto Adige
Image Credit: Girlan Made in a fresh yet elegant style, this northern Italian Pinot Noir is from Cantina Girlan’s oldest vineyards, which sit at altitudes between 1,250 and 1,640 feet. A cooperative established by 24 winegrowing families in 1923, today Girlan is known for its excellent single vineyard wines made by winemaker Gerhard Kofler. Aromas of Luxardo cherry and candied orange peel prepare the tastebuds for pomegranate, cranberry, fresh sage, and aniseed flavors with a hint of smoke on the smooth finish.
-
Odette 2022 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Stag’s Leap District
Image Credit: Odette Odette is named for three famous women from fiction and history—the swan princess from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, the mistress in Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, and most important to the wine world, Odette Kahn, a French wine critic who tried to change her scores after American wines won at the 1976 Judgement of Paris wine tasting. Odette 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon has heady aromas of blackberry, star anise, and slate. Fine grained tannins encase sumptuous flavors of blackberry, chocolate-covered espresso bean, and five spice powder.
-
High Ranch Vineyard 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Coombsville
Image Credit: High Ranch Vineyard The inaugural vintage from a volcanic vineyard in southern Napa’s Coombsville AVA, we recently drank this gorgeous Cabernet with winemaker Sam Kaplan and vintners Shawn and Connie Guttersen and it was perfect with an al fresco meal. It offers a bouquet of blackberry, cedar, and herbs de Provence. Opulent tannins provide a backbone to flavors of Simka plum, cherry, clove, and tobacco. Available in a 3-pack, it offers an opportunity to share with a crowd or store some for later.
-
La Fiorita 2021 Brunello di Montalcino
Image Credit: La Fiorita La Fiorita was founded in the early 1990s but really came to international attention after Natalie Oliveros fully acquired the estate in 2014. Estate manager Luigi Peroni and winemaker Vincenzo Pirrone craft a complex version of Sangiovese from estate vineyards. La Fiorita 2021 Brunello is cherry red in the glass and has aromas of raspberry, violet, and river rock. Opulent tannins and vivid acidity support luscious flavors of black cherry, purple flowers, and dried sage with a pleasant earthy note on the finish.
