Memorial Day weekend in the United States is a time to remember and salute those who have fought for our country.

It is also sort of the unofficial beginning of summer, so lots of folks take time during the weekend to visit with family and friends and enjoy a good meal together, such as a barbeque or other type of cook-out.

After being inspired by many of my fellow wine bloggers who have been pairing some wonderful meals with some equally wonderful wines, this weekend my husband and I decided to take some time and have our own miniature cook-out, whipping up some great hamburgers and coleslaw and, yes, pairing our casual meal with some excellent wine.

First, a little more on the food - we used ground round for the hamburgers, grilled them, and topped them with jack pepper cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce, dill pickles. We used hardy sesame Kaiser rolls for our buns, and tossed them as well. For a side, we had coleslaw, but this was not your ordinary slaw. Because the onions didn't look that great at the store, I opted for shallots. Wow! The slaw was so fabulous, I had to add it to my crusty roll in addition to all the other hamburger condiments.

Californian Sangiovese was our pick for wine: Los Rios Vineyards, 2002 and Quill Lake Estate, 2004.

We picked this particular wine because we happened to have it in our wine cellar, but also we wanted a hearty wine that could stand up to all the other strong flavors of our meal.

For some suggestions on pairing hamburgers with wine, Fabulous Foods has table that allows you to match burger toppings with wines.