How can wine, made from grapes, be unsuitable for vegetarians and vegans? Often it’s what’s used for clarifying and fining the wine – things like casein (found in milk) and isinglass (the swim bladders of fish). Thankfully most independent wine sellers will be happy to advise you, and supermarkets are making it easier to search online and via labels for suitable bottles. Since it’s National Vegetarian Week from May 14 to 20, here are my tips for rooting out the best vegetarian wines.
With 389 vegetarian and vegan-friendly wines, it’s worth digging around M&S, which displays the vegan logo on the back of every relevant label. Most retailers also allow you to search by this category online – The Wine Society, for instance, has 354 vegan options. I’d also be guiding your eye to specialist retailers and websites such as barnivore.com that tell you which drinks are vegetarian-friendly.
As for the clearest labelling, the Co-Op, in my view, does a fantastic job, not just on indicating on the label whether the wine is suitable but also giving further details about the contents – try its zesty white Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi 2016 (12.5%) for just £5.99. Which brings me to food pairing for meat-free dishes – asparagus is bang in season, and the Co-Op’s vibrant Verdicchio works a charm with it. Another asparagus pairing is Grüner Veltliner from Austria, and Waitrose has the excellent Domæne Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner 2016 (12.5%) on offer, down from £11.49 to £9.19 until May 15.
As far as reds go, they can pair brilliantly with the savoury flavours of dishes headlined by mighty mushrooms or splashed with soy sauce. No need to go too heavy here. Italian grapes such as Dolcetto are a delight, or Loire reds from France such as Cabernet Franc – and when the sun comes out, it’s fine to serve these types of red lightly chilled to maximise their freshness.
If organic is also a priority, merchants such as vintageroots.co.uk have an extensive range of organic vegetarian wines to choose from.
With such a huge crop on offer, you’ll need longer than National Vegetarian Week to root them all out.
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