And the rosé’s red glare

For Fourth of July grilling, there’s no need to throw your hard-earned dough at the top shelf bottles. It’s a day for outdoor celebration and Van Halen records (the selftitled debut and Fair Warning, preferably — and no Van Hagar), so it’s value time in freedom city.

Luckily, not only does dry rosé come cheap, but it tastes like lip-smacking fruit punch with your hot dogs. The winner comes from an enormous financier of the American Revolution: France.

I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. There’s plenty of room for America in this column. Let’s be real about the present situation: France is the king of dry rosé.

Domaine de Pellehaut rosé from the 2014 vintage is a total steal at $11. From just southeast of Bordeaux, this wine smells and tastes like fruit straight from the Kool- Aid Man: strawberries, cherries and orange peel. For the money, this merlot/tannat blend might be the rosé of the summer. For those that don’t dig sweet wines, no need to worry. There’s no sugar here. This is the kind of wine that should please just about any summer wine drinker, and it paired with the Koegels in a jaunty fun bath for my mouth.

Zinfandel is a grape that is often maligned, but there’s plenty of it out there that tastes like the heavens parting when it swishes against your meat remnants. California’s Easton Wines may be the best producer of zinfandel under $20. Both its 2011 and 2012 zinfandels, at $18, are robust and smoky with loads of fruit and thankfully stopping short of a clumsy alcohol-bomb that so often happens.

If you are planning to grill some tasty fish and vegetables, take a look at Bonny Doon’s 2013 albarino. Twenty years ago, albarino wasn’t on anyone’s radar. But thanks to the maritime-influenced Galician viticulture in northwest Spain, the grape is not so far down on the pecking order. Few domestic growers have produced a worthy albarino for the money, but California-based Bonny Doon is one of them. Lemon, pear and apple flavors are all over this, but it’s not insanely fruity or heavy.

While many will pair burgers with beer this weekend, there are options for the winelovers as well. The problem is that burgers are sloppy, greasy mounds of confusion. They send signals to our brains telling us to eat more, to voraciously consume any animal proteins in our current zip code. For all of that grill magic, you need a saucy, spicyred wine.

This is where garnacha steps up. (Garnacha is the Spainish name, the French call it grenache.) This grape is known for its red licorice and anise flavors and for its tendency to show heavier alcohol compared to other grapes.

The 2012 Castillo de Monséran garnacha shows earthy, peppery flavors as well as meaty, savory ones, but it still tastes like blackberries and currants. Garnacha wines often gets close to the threshold of 15 percent alcohol, where it gets a bit overwhelming. Castillo de Monséran’s clocks in at 12.5 percent, which is excellent news for grill chefs looking to avoid high-alcohol wine. This $9 bottle from Cariñena (halfway between Barcelona and Madrid) is better than most red wines restaurants serve by the glass for the same price or more.

If these wines don’t sound appetizing enough to wash down your sloppy freedom meals, that’s OK. We happen to live in a magnificent beer state with wonderful options in all directions of the mitten. Talk to any of your local independent purveyors, and they will assuredly find some inexpensive beer and wine gems for you to throw back over the weekend.

Justin King is a certified sommelier and can be seen overly charring meat on the grill at his home in Williamston. Tell him how to grill properly at justingking@gmail.com.