One of my favorite summertime pairings is just rosé and a hot day. But if food does enter the picture, as it usually does at some point, the most royal pairing might be BBQ. They’re basically as perfectly matched as Kate and Wills.

First, rosé and anything spicy is just flat out amazing. It balances and refreshes your mouth from all that heat. Plus, if you’re grilling meat you don’t really want a white. And if it’s summer, you don’t want to go red. So rosé is the perfect middle of the road choice.

I’ve had a lot of these rosé/spice pairings this summer. Here were the top 3:

BBQ ribs: as stated, the mother of all pairings! The best rosé for ribs is a bolder Syrah-based one like this Charles & Charles.

This was amazing: chili snap peas sprinkled with hazelnuts and pecorino, all washed down with a Provençal rosé.

An interesting blend of Pinot Gris and Syrah in this rosé from Argentina, but the pear in the Pinot Gris gave it a little bit of sweetness that was great with these BBQ potato chips. LIVE for the high/low.