Let's agree, then, that barbecue wines should cost five bucks, $5.50 tops. And in less usurious booze-retailing environments, they do. But as the poet puts it, whaddaya gonna do? Or, as a former Very Senior provincial politician once put it to me when I inquired about the likelihood of mobilizing some of his minions to see if something might be done about the liquor-marketing system's astonishing markups: "I can't win an election on that kind of an issue!"

So we remain mired in a situation in which the wine is often the most expensive part of a back-yard barbecue; even the propane costs less, at least for the time being. Here are three barbecue wines–cheap, middling, and expensive. Those terms are relative, of course, but yes, here in Lotusland, 12 bucks is considered cheap.

Which is what the first one costs–$11.99 this month, to be precise–and at the top of my tasting scribble I put "killer French cheapo, bbq blast". See how conditioned one gets. Mont Tauch Réserve de la Perrií¨re Fitou 2004 is the one, a winning mix of southern varieties: Carignane, Grenache, and Mourví¨dre.

It's fresh, bright, and medium-bodied, with a macerated-cherry softness. "Steak, Mexican and Chinese cuisine, spare ribs with barbecue sauce" suggests the label, also inviting us to search for elements of the elusive garrigue and cers in the total experience. The former is the current descriptive darling of wine commentators, and the latter has something to do with the north wind. Okay, you go ahead and check those out while I turn the T-bones and that blackening foil package with the potatoes and tiny onions and garlic and black pepper and olive oil in it.

Mindful, as always, of the relativity of these things, this is an excellent summer eating and sipping red-wine buy. Plus, it makes for a very classy sangria if you're prone to that sort of thing.

Next in line is Hardys Oomoo McLaren Vale Shiraz 2005 ($19.99), one of only 155 Australian Shirazes listed by the LDB. (Okay, so I exaggerate: about 30 of those are Shiraz blends.) I love a good Aussie Shiraz as much as the next guy, but isn't that a bit, how shall we say it, excessive? Never mind–this one too is a major winner.

It's big, but that's the name of the Shiraz game down there. The colour is a kind of purple Welch's. There's lotsa plums and chocolate and pepper and spice, but when it all mixes around in the mouth the result is a nice and mellow softness. This does the trick for me with peppered chí¨vre and those rosemary crackers from Les Amis du Fromage (1752 West 2nd Avenue and 518–2002 Park Royal South, West Vancouver), as well as lamb chops, seared for a few seconds with garlic and fresh mint and served with crunchy edamame and rock salt.

And last on this little list is the one you might have to haul out a credit card for, the one for high-end barbecuing. Instead of store-bought burgers and bottled relish, you've got the Fire Chef's first cookbook out, and some serious sirloins and a brilliant marinade. Maybe also one of those new Smokin' Grill world beaters that originate in Trail, B.C., and have pretty well conquered the whole barbecuing world, from their launch in, of all places, Texas. Now you're ready to get grilling.

Casa Silva Quinta Generacií“n 2002 costs $29.99 plus the blue-box dime. But if the idea of a $30 Chilean wine still causes you an involuntary head shake of disbelief, you simply haven't been paying attention–we've got them for up to $100 in town. I don't know who's buying those to serve alongside their empanaditas, but it's nobody on my block.

Here's your Sunday-dinner, company's-coming, got-the-boss-in-town wine. It's basically a southern Meritage, if you want to put it in perspective: 50 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 percent Carmení¨re, and 10 percent each of Shiraz and Petit Verdot. Almost a Meritage, save for the Carmení¨re, a high-intensity red with massive fruit and a spectacular finish, big and bold but still carrying a good decade's worth of aging in the bottle.

If you're a really good barbecuer, if you've got really good groceries, and maybe if you've got the boss in town, for a jacket-and-tie barbecue this is the wine, or if you just like a really good, really smooth red wine. Get two, they go down fast.

The End of the Joie of summer, already; don't say you weren't warned. We were barely into May when I outlined the just-released treats from tiny Joie winery in Naramata, with the customary caveat: get them while you can. This time, it took barely three weeks to move all the wine out of the winery and into savvy cellars and discerning restaurants.

That's where you can still taste some. Café de Paris (751 Denman Street) is one such place; so's Salt Tasting Room (45 Blood Alley). The latter was recently offering a taster flight of Joie wines matched with a charcuterie board whose components were prepared from recipes in Joie partner Heidi Noble's new book, Menus From an Orchard Table (Whitecap Books, $34.95). Maybe they still are. Never hurts to ask.

A few of the city's better private wine stores are also still stocked, but those stocks are depleting quickly. Might be worth checking with Marquis Wine Cellars (1034 Davie Street); that's where Noble's book–very pretty, very tasty, very easy to work with ­–was launched a couple of weeks ago. Like we expected anything else?