Pairing Wine with Vegan dishes

[peter01vekselman]

Hello everyone!

I'm Peter, and I'm new to the site.

I was wondering what is the best wine to pair with vegan dishes?

I am adopting a new lifestyle, but I would still like a good sip or two once in a while.

Thanks, and looking forward to great feedback.

Peter Vekselman

https://twitter.com/PeterVekselman1

[Lisa Shock]

You might just want to read up more on wine pairing in general, and go on a few tasting expeditions to some local wine shops. Just knowing that a meal will be vegan doesn't really help at all with pairing. You've got to look at the actual foods themselves and then decide.

There are vegan wines, BTW. There isn't an enormous selection, but, I have had some very tasty bottles -especially from Oregon. Ask about them at your local wine shop.

[Plantes Vertes]

To elaborate on what Lisa Shock has said; most wine is not suitable for vegans because the fining (clarifying) process involves animal products, namely blood powder, isinglass from fish bladders, casein from milk, egg whites and gelatin, so this will probably be the first consideration when choosing what to drink. Most beer is made without animal products but not all.

ETA Welcome to the site Peter!

Edited June 17, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[piracer]

Ah, would yeast be considered an animal product? Because if it is, wine would be strictly speaking be out of the question, wouldn't it?

[Mjx]

Ah, would yeast be considered an animal product? Because if it is, wine would be strictly speaking be out of the question, wouldn't it?

Yeast are classed as fungi (not animals, or, for that matter, plants).

[Waldo]

The information can be difficult to come by for any particular wine, but many wines are unfined, and yet others are fined using bentonite. I'd advocate forming a relationship with your wine store operator and letting them help you make selections based upon your criteria.

As for pairing, most dishes are best paired to the sauce (if their is one) rather than general practice of pairing to the protein. More importantly, drink what you like. Off-dry wines pair broadly because of their acidity and residual sugar. Many rosés are also easy to pair with a variety of dishes. While some pairings create a certain synergy, more often that not you are just looking to prevent pairings that clash. In my opinion, the whole practice of wine and food pairing is overly mystified. And quite often pairings that should work (or not work) in theory can still be surprising in practice.

[jonwig100]

Hello Peter.

I don't know how typical I am, but when I cook lunch I need to think of the wine which will go with it.

As already pointed out, this is personal and often hit-miss. However, I've found:

• Tomatoey dishes tend to go with light, uncomplicated Italian reds. I think dishes such as 'The Imam Swooned' do, as well.

• Dishes with a strong olive/ lemony zing - try Greek Retsina (if you can still get it).

• Orientals (with ginger, soy sauce, etc.) German or Alsace medium dry acidic wines.

• High spice dishes (eg. vegan chilli, Moroccan tagine) I stick to beer - light Belgian 'blonde' for instance.

The range of vegan dishes you can cook is really wide, and we eat them often because we like them. Because I'm not vegan, though, I can't add anything to the advice about authentically vegan wine.