Steak with Barbecue Sauce

Sweet, smoky, sticky, and acidic all at once — barbecue sauce is one of the most flavour-forward accompaniments a steak can wear. The wine needs the fruit weight to match the sweetness, the body to handle the beef, and enough character to ride alongside the smoke without disappearing. Delicate wines have no place here.

Zinfandel from California is the most natural partner. Its brambly, spiced fruit and generous body were made for barbecue — the sweetness of the sauce finds its mirror in the wine's own ripe character rather than creating conflict.

Malbec from Mendoza brings dark plum, cocoa richness, and a velvety texture that sits comfortably alongside the sticky sweetness of the sauce. Accessible, reliable, and genuinely well-matched.

Syrah or Shiraz from the Barossa Valley echoes the smoke of the sauce with its own bacon-fat and black pepper character. The body handles the beef; the fruit handles the glaze.

Avoid

Light or high-acid reds, delicate whites, anything without the fruit weight to match the sauce's sweetness.

Failing That

If you want something between red and white, consider an orange wine, Georgia.

If All Else Fails

Merlot, Bordeaux.

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