June 2026 · Puglia · Niagara
Fired Up
Wines for the grill
June marks the arrival of patio season, backyard gatherings, and the unmistakable aroma of food cooking over an open flame. Whether it’s burgers on a weeknight, slow-smoked ribs on the weekend, or a perfectly grilled steak shared with family and friends, barbecue season calls for wines with enough character to stand up to the grill.
This month’s selection explores three themes that have long been associated with some of the world’s most satisfying red wines: blending, Appassimento, and food-friendly wines built for barbecue.
Many of the world’s most celebrated wines are blends, combining multiple grape varieties to create greater complexity, balance, and depth than any single grape could achieve on its own. Both featured wines this month showcase the art of blending, with each grape contributing its own unique character to the finished wine.
The wines also share a connection through Appassimento, one of Italy’s most fascinating winemaking traditions. By partially drying grapes before fermentation, winemakers concentrate flavours, texture, colour, and structure, producing wines with remarkable richness and intensity.
Our featured wines offer two distinct expressions of this technique. From southern Italy, Botter Appassimento Rosso reflects the Old World roots of Appassimento. From Niagara-on-the-Lake, Big Head’s Bigger Red demonstrates how Ontario winemakers have adapted the method and combined it with carbonic fermentation to create a uniquely modern expression.
Rich, flavourful, and exceptionally food friendly, these wines were made for smoky barbecue fare. As the days grow longer and grills fire up around the barbecue, they offer the perfect opportunity to explore how traditional techniques and innovative winemaking can come together in the glass.
Enjoy the wines, enjoy the season, and most of all, enjoy the company gathered around the table.
Wine spotlight
Botter Appassimento Rosso & Big Head Bigger Red
Red · IGT Puglia, Italy
Botter Appassimento Rosso
Botter’s Appassimento Rosso offers a modern expression of one of Italy’s most celebrated winemaking traditions. Produced from partially dried grapes, this blend of Primitivo, Merlot, and Negroamaro develops greater concentration, richness, and texture while maintaining balance and drinkability.
The nose opens with aromas of ripe plum, dark cherry, blackberry, raisin, vanilla, and sweet spice. The palate is full-bodied and velvety, delivering generous dark fruit flavours supported by soft tannins and balanced acidity. Rich without being heavy, it offers the warmth and generosity that have made Appassimento wines popular around the world.
Food pairing
Grilled steaks, barbecue ribs, smoked sausages, burgers, and slow-cooked beef dishes.
Red · Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Big Head Bigger Red
Big Head’s Bigger Red showcases Ontario’s innovative approach to producing bold, concentrated red wines. The blend combines 72% Appassimento Cabernet Franc and 28% Appassimento Merlot. A four-week carbonic fermentation helps preserve vibrant fruit character and freshness while softening tannins.
Expect aromas of blackberry, black currant, and dark plum layered with notes of baking spice and subtle oak. The palate is rich and full-bodied, offering concentrated dark fruit flavours supported by hints of vanilla, cocoa, and savoury spice. Despite its intensity, the wine remains energetic and well balanced, reflecting the freshness that carbonic fermentation can bring to a powerful wine.
Food pairing
Smoked brisket, barbecue ribs, gourmet burgers, pulled pork, grilled striploin, and aged cheddar.
Comparing the two
While both wines draw inspiration from the Appassimento tradition, they express it differently. Botter Appassimento Rosso leans toward a classic Southern Italian profile, emphasizing ripe fruit, velvety texture, and warming spice. Big Head Bigger Red brings a distinctly Ontario perspective, combining Appassimento concentration with carbonic fermentation to create a wine that is equally powerful yet noticeably fresher and more vibrant.
This contrast makes them an excellent side-by-side tasting, highlighting how the same foundational technique can produce very different expressions depending on region, grape variety, and winemaking philosophy.
The learning piece
Understanding Blends and Appassimento
Many of the world’s most celebrated wines are blends. Rather than relying on a single grape variety, winemakers combine different grapes to create greater complexity, balance, and character. Each variety contributes something unique, whether fruit, structure, acidity, or aromatic complexity. The result is often a wine that is more complete and harmonious than any one grape could achieve on its own.
Some of the world’s most famous wine regions are built on blending traditions. Bordeaux combines varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, while the Rhône Valley is known for blends of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. Blending allows winemakers to highlight the strengths of each grape while creating a wine that is balanced and expressive.
This month’s featured wines showcase the art of blending in different ways. Botter Appassimento Rosso combines Primitivo, Merlot, and Negroamaro to create a rich and generous Southern Italian red. Big Head Bigger Red blends Appassimento Cabernet Franc and Appassimento Merlot, demonstrating how Ontario winemakers can build both power and freshness into a wine.
While blending provides complexity, both featured wines also share a connection through Appassimento, one of Italy’s most fascinating winemaking traditions. The process begins after harvest, when carefully selected grapes are laid out on racks or placed in well ventilated drying rooms. Over the following months, the grapes gradually lose water through evaporation, concentrating sugars, flavours, colour compounds, and tannins.
When fermentation finally begins, the resulting wine possesses greater richness, body, intensity, and complexity than wines produced from freshly harvested grapes. The most famous example of this technique is Amarone della Valpolicella, where producers traditionally dry Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella grapes before fermentation to create wines renowned for their depth, concentration, and remarkable ageing potential.
Today, winemakers around the world have adopted Appassimento-inspired techniques to create richer and more concentrated wines. Some producers harvest slightly earlier to help preserve acidity before the drying process begins, allowing the finished wines to maintain freshness alongside their richness.
Together, blending and Appassimento demonstrate how thoughtful winemaking techniques can transform grapes into wines of greater complexity, depth, and character. This month’s selections offer two distinct expressions of these traditions, inviting us to explore how region, grape variety, and winemaking philosophy can shape the final wine in the glass.