Vegan wine and pairing with plant-based dishes
In recent years, interest in plant-based eating has grown significantly, leading to increased attention to vegan wines. These wines, produced without the use of animal-derived ingredients, are an ideal match for plant-based cuisine, offering a pleasant, ethical, sustainable, and cruelty-free tasting experience.
In this short article, we'll briefly explore the basic rules for pairing vegan wines with plant-based dishes, providing some examples to guide your food and wine choices and create enjoyable, balanced, and harmonious pairings.
Matching Rules
Concordance
This rule is based on the pairing of similar flavors and sensations between the wine and the dish, where the characteristic of the food must correspond to that of the wine, to create a harmony of taste, so that the elements of the wine and the food blend together without overpowering each other.
- Sweet food to pair with sweet wine
Hazelnut cake with Moscato d'Asti, apple and cinnamon strudel with Verduzzo Friulano .
- Structured food to pair with full-bodied wine
Lasagna with vegetable ragù with Barbera d'Asti , braised seitan with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo .
- Persistent food to pair with persistent wine
Lemon and parsley risotto with Timorasso from the Tortona Hills , saffron gnocchi with Riesling Italico from the Oltrepò Pavese .
- Spicy and aromatic food to pair with intense wine
Zucchini hummus with curry and Sauvignon Doc Friuli , spaghetti cacio e pepe with Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi .
Contrast
This rule involves pairing contrasting flavors and sensations to create balance, seeking the opposite characteristic in the wine to that of the food.
- Food with a sweet tendency to be paired with wine with good acidity
Pumpkin gnocchi with Soave Doc, tempeh and pea skewers with Umbrian Grechetto.
- Fatty food to be paired with wine with good acidity, flavor (or effervescence)
Russian salad with Pecorino d'Abruzzo, a matured cashew-based vegetable cheese with Ribolla Gialla Spumante from Friuli .
- Greasy food to pair with tannic (or alcoholic) wine
Chickpea soup with Dolcetto d'Alba, pasta and beans with Chianti Riserva dei Colli Senesi .
- Succulent food to pair with alcoholic (or tannic) wine
Vegetable cold cuts with Cabernet Franc Friulano, seitan "stonnato" with Pinot Nero Oltrepò Pavese .
- Savoury food with an acidic or bitterish tendency to be paired with a soft wine
Radicchio risotto with Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo, vegetable caponata with Nero d'Avola.
Conclusion
Explaining wine-food pairing on a blog is a "mission impossible," and let's never forget that every pairing is a story itself; simply changing one ingredient can alter the sensory profile of a dish and the pairing logic. In other words, there are no absolute rules , much less an Excel spreadsheet to explore all the possible combinations.
Pairing vegan wines with plant-based cuisine is an art (or, if you prefer, magic) that enhances both the wine and the food, creating an ethical and cruelty-free culinary experience. Experimenting with different food and wine pairings will allow you to discover new flavor nuances and fully enjoy the richness of plant-based cuisine, in all its incredible and possible facets.
Whether you're an expert sommelier or a wine enthusiast, let your curiosity guide you through the wonderful world of vegan food and wine pairings. And now, let the journey begin!
Where to buy the best vegan wines to pair with your favorite vegan recipes?
Find the best selection of Italian, organic and vegan wines on InVinoVegan.com , the first online wine shop dedicated to ethical and sustainable wines. The benefits of purchasing from InVinoVegan are:
- Free Shipping: For orders over €99 (Italy only)
- Fast Deliveries: 48-72 hours
- No minimum order
- Sustainable, zero-impact shipping
- Donations: 4% of every purchase donated to causes chosen by customers
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