Trending

from The Cellar Door Issue 40: Big Reds

The Sharing Table

Photos by Ian McCausland

A Vegan in the Wine World

By Ricki-Lee Podolecki, DipWSET

Wine and food are natural pals. So why is it that many diets are often excluded when we consider pairing wine with food? We constantly hear about how a bold, rich red wine will go great with steak or strong cheese—but not everyone eats steak or cheese! Plant-based and vegan diets offer many more opportunities to play with different flavours and textures than people give them credit for. As someone who loves the challenge of pairing big reds with delicious plant-based meals, I am here to say that it’s about time we talk not only about vegan wines but also the foods that can go with them.

But Isn’t All Wine Vegan?

Plant-based and vegetarian lifestyles have become increasingly mainstream as people learn more about their physical and environmental benefits. The options for plant-based foods have never been better, from fast food to alternative products in grocery stores. Marketing departments have done a fabulous job of ensuring that the community is aware of what products are vegan, labelling with the particularly important green “V”—because let’s be honest: recognizing that symbol is much easier than trying to read the tiny ingredients list! But here’s the catch in the wine world: wines don’t require an ingredients list because they “only use grapes”—or do they?

Though wine is made from grapes, not all wines are vegan, and an increasing number of producers are beginning to heed the demand for transparency. Thus, many winemakers use the green “V” on the back labels of wines that meet vegan requirements. Because some producers have yet to add this information to their labels, our amazing team at Jones & Co. has put together a list of our producers and wines that are vegan—just ask us for the list when you come into the store! And then we went a step further: we have labelled the shelves with small green dots to help you easily find vegan wines.

What’s the catch?

Fining agents such as casein (milk protein), albumin (egg whites), gelatin (animal protein), and isinglass (fish bladder protein) are used at times to fine or stabilize wines. Even though these agents do not stay in the wine, the process makes them technically not vegan.

Time to Pair

What happens once you have chosen a bottle? If you are vegan, you know that most vegan food and wine pairing advice involves a lot of salads and white wines. But going meatless shouldn’t limit the amazing experience of pairing the big red wines we are showcasing in this issue! A lot of food and wine pairing is connected to how the dish is prepared or the sauce. You don’t have to eat meat to pair a charred or smoky dish with a Syrah or a sweet barbeque sauce-based dish with a fruit-forward Zinfandel.

To go with our list of vegan wines, we created five hearty plant-based dishes that can stand up to the biggest and boldest of reds! Recipes will be featured on social media @joneswinemerchants starting October 25 and throughout November, World Vegan Month.