Pairing wine with Vegetarian & Plant-Based Food

While I am not a vegetarian or a vegan, I do enjoy many plant-based dishes, which generally form the largest part of what I eat in a day. Of course, these are very often washed down with a delicious glass of wine, and the pairing options are endless.

It's not the colour that counts

Both red wine and white wine will work and as I've said before, the most important things to consider are the weight of the wine - how full bodied or how light it is, how aromatic the wine is and whether the food is salty, spicy, sweet or all three!

How to decide what to open

This can be the simplest question in the world - a little of whatever you fancy - or you might, at times, want to make sure that whichever wine you choose, it can stand up to your food and that both the dish and the glass come out on top.

Read more about food and wine pairing here.

Vegetarian food varies as much as any other type of food, so it's difficult to be too prescriptive. In fact I think there is sometimes more scope to mix and match, when you take meat and fish out of the equation. But here are a few of my personal choices, along with some food for thought.

Pairing wine with Mushrooms

In all their forms, mushrooms offer the umami we crave and the texture of something akin to meat, making them ideal for pairing with red wines. But unlike meat, the range of reds that pair perfectly is no so prescriptive. A gorgeous gamay or a pinot noir or a cabernet franc all elevate the earthy undertones of mushrooms, but in a richer garlicky mushroom stew, a big red Malbec or a primitvo would also do the trick.

Pairing wine with Grains & Pulses

So much depends on the cooking methods, but again, matching the richness, acidity, relative sweetness and body of the dish should be your guide. Nothing at all wrong with a chilled glass of Chardonnay, Viognier or a Rosé with a cannelini or chickpea salad for example, but for a slow cooked bean stew, I'd be inclinded to go for a medium bodied red such as a Valpolicella or a Rioja.

Spicy vegetable dishes

One of my favourite all round reds for curry in general is Argentinian Malbec, and my favourite white is Riesling. Both of these will hold their own but in different ways. A Riesling tends to accentuate the bright flavours of the spices in the dish and cut through any richness, while the Malbec creates a satisfying sense of balance and a glorious mouthfeel.

Cheese

Clearly when it comes to food and wine pairing, cheese is up there with some of the world's most classic matches. There is something about the creamy intensity of it that works perfectly with the fruit and acidity of the wine. While most people believe that we should always drink red wine with cheese, this in fact is not the case, and appears in fact to be a rather newer development than one might think. Many of the earliest wine growing areas in France, also produced local cheeses, which were made to match the local tipple. So the classic Loire Sauvignon Blancs are the ideal foil to the many local goats' cheeses.

Read more about pairing cheese and wine here.

And finally...

Most of our wines are naturally vegan, and those that are certified are clearly marked. For more about what makes a Vegan Wine, read this!