Fire Up the Grill, Pour the Good Stuff: Sunnybrook Wines Meet Your Summer Cookout

There's a moment every summer here at Sunnybrook when the calendar flips and suddenly every weekend fills up. The grill gets dragged out of the barn, neighbors start wandering down the driveway, and someone inevitably asks, "What should I bring?"

Our answer, more often than not: "Just yourself — we've got the wine."

But if you're hosting your own cookout this season, we want your table to shine. After years of pouring at farm dinners, harvest parties, and plenty of our own family reunions, we've figured out which of our wines play nicely with smoke, char, and sticky-sweet sauce. Here's our unofficial guide to matching Sunnybrook pours with your backyard spread.

Smoky Brisket Deserves a Bold Companion

Low and slow is the only way we know how to do brisket — twelve hours over hickory if Dad's manning the smoker. That deep, peppery bark calls for a red with some backbone. Our Reserve Red Blend, with its dark cherry and black pepper notes, stands right up to the smoke without getting lost. Pour it slightly below room temperature; on a July afternoon in the South or Midwest, that bottle warms up fast on the picnic table.

Sticky Ribs? Go Off-Dry

Barbecue sauce is a tricky dance partner — it's sweet, tangy, and a little spicy all at once. A bone-dry wine tends to disappear against all that. Our off-dry Traminette, an aromatic white we love for its lychee and honeysuckle character, has just enough sweetness to meet the sauce halfway. It's become the unofficial wine of our summer rib nights, and guests who "only drink red" are always surprised.

Burgers and Dogs: Keep It Easy

Not every pour needs to make a statement. When the menu is burgers, brats, and a mountain of potato salad, reach for our sunny estate Rosé. It's crisp, it's dry-ish, it's cold, and nobody at the party will complain. Honestly, it's the bottle we go through fastest every June.

Grilled Chicken and Veggie Skewers

Charcoal-kissed chicken thighs or a platter of zucchini, peppers, and mushrooms are lighter fare, and they love a lighter wine. Our Seyval Blanc — crisp with a whisper of citrus — is our pick. It's also the wine we pour most often at vineyard tours, so if you've visited lately, you already know.

Smoked Sausage and Sharp Cheddar Boards

Every good cookout has a grazing moment: the board of cheeses, pickles, and sausages that comes out while the grill heats up. Our semi-dry Chambourcin handles the salt and the tang beautifully. Pro tip from our tasting room: chill it for twenty minutes before serving. Red wine on a hot patio is a kindness nobody appreciates until they've had it.

Pulled Pork Loves a Little Sweetness

If your pulled pork leans vinegar-forward (Carolina style, we see you), a wine with a touch of residual sugar keeps things balanced. Our Traminette pulls double duty here, but if you want something different, our blush-style farm white is a sleeper hit with pork sandwiches piled high on potato rolls.

Grilled Peach Cobbler and the Sweet Finish

Yes, you can grill dessert — halve some peaches, set them cut-side down until they caramelize, and thank us later. Top with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of our late-harvest dessert wine. It's the kind of finish that makes people linger at the table long after the fireflies come out, which is really the whole point.

A Few Hosting Tricks from the Farm

We've hosted enough gatherings to learn a few things the hard way:

• Ice, then more ice. Plan on two bottles of white or rosé chilling per four guests. A galvanized tub of ice water beats a refrigerator run every time.
• Open one red early. Let it breathe while you cook — it'll taste better by the time the brisket's sliced.
• Label your bottles. A strip of chalk tape on the neck keeps the conversation going when someone asks what they're drinking. (Bonus: it's a great excuse to mention where they can buy more.)
• Leftovers love wine too. Cold pulled pork and a splash of that Chambourcin the next afternoon? A farm lunch for champions.

Come Taste Before You Pour

The best way to nail your pairings is to try them in person. Our tasting room is open every weekend through the summer, and we're always happy to walk you through what's pouring now — no wine knowledge required, kids and well-behaved dogs welcome on the porch. Ask about our farm-to-table pairing nights, too; they fill up fast once the word gets out.

And because we know you'll be standing in the wine aisle with a grocery list in one hand, we've put together a printable pairing cheat sheet — grab one in the tasting room on your next visit, or ask us to email it over. Pin it inside a cabinet door and never second-guess the cookout again.

Here's to long evenings, full plates, and glasses raised to good company. From our farm to your table — happy grilling.