Aw,

don't go to all the trouble of dragging out the grill, cleaning it, oiling it and spending blistering hours creating your masterpiece of the barbecue arts -- and then serve it with beer.

Being liquid, beer will wash it down. (I hate that phrase -- it sounds like you're hosing something into a drain -- which I suppose you are, but still . . . ). Beer won't add anything to the experience, though.

Complement your charcoal triumph with something that actually adds flavor. The world of wine, from California to Sicily, the Rhne Valley to Tuscany, offers dozens of choices that are brilliant with barbecue -- choices that extend far beyond the usual cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay.

With that grilled shrimp slathered in oil and garlic, pour a fruity, nutty wine with a Portuguese heritage -- verdelho.

With barbecued chicken quarters, serve a complex, multigrape rosé in the style of the Southern Rhne.

With that peak grilling achievement, the charcoaled New York strip, try a sturdy, ink-hued nero d'avola from Sicily.

In California, Randall Grahm, the brooding, eccentric, genius winemaker, makes whites, reds and rosés roughly patterned on those of the Southern Rhne. They're packed with flavor, capable of standing up to the spiciest barbecue sauce.

In Sicily, Alberto Cusumano takes the native, dark-black nero d'avola grape from vineyards around the island and vinifies it in the family winery near Palermo. Rapidly breaking into the international market, his powerful wines are good matches for spicy barbecue.

In Italy, Fabrizio Bindocci makes a rich, smooth red wine from the sangiovese grape. Located in Tuscany but just outside the official Chianti area, he can't call it Chianti. So he calls it Rosso de Montalcino. If you grill your steak in the Tuscan style, with olive oil and rosemary, this would be the perfect match. In France's Southern Rhne Valley, the Skalli Family's Maison Bouachon makes Chateauneuf-du-Pape with extra richness from grapes from 70-year-old vines.

While you're cleaning the grill at end of day, you can pat yourself on the back for treating your friends to something great to eat and something out of the ordinary to drink with it.

HIGHLY

RECOMMENDED

• 2006 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Blanc, Central Coast, Calif. (75 percent granache blanc, 25 percent roussanne): racy with acid; lush with green pineapple; lively and spicy; $22.

• 2005 Maison Bouachon Chateauneuf-du-Pape ``La Tiare du Pape,'' AOC (60 percent grenache, 30 percent syrah, 7 percent mourvèdre and 3 percent counoise, terret noir, muscardin and vaccarèse): black plums and mocha; full body; soft tannins and acids; $39.

RECOMMENDED

• 2007 Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare, Calif. (47 percent grenache, 27 percent cinsault, 14 percent syrah, 7 percent grenache blanc, 5 percent roussanne): crisp, tart cherries and cranberries; rich and dry; intensely flavorful; $14.

• 2004 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant, Calif. (50 percent grenache, 24 percent mourvèdre, 22 percent syrah, 3 percent carignane, 1 percent cinsault): intense flavors of black plums, black cherries and anise; full-bodied, sturdy and full-flavored, but with soft tannins and acids; $30.

• 2007 Lee Family Farm Verdelho, Silvaspoons Vineyard, Alta Mesa, Calif.: sturdy, crisp and powerful, with apple and lemon flavors; $15.

• 2006 Cusumano Nero d'Avola, Sicilia: black plums and mint; sturdy tannins; full body; $15.

• 2005 Il Poggione Rosso de Montalcino, DOCG, Italy: big, rich and smooth, with blackberry and espresso flavors; $27.

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