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Pairing wine with vegetarian dishes may seem tricky at first, but it’s far from impossible. Here’s a brief guide to help you choose the ideal wine to accompany your vegetable dishes.
Let’s start with a few general principles
- There are no hard and fast rules for vegetarian wine pairings.
- The choice of wine will depend on the type of vegetable and its preparation.
- When in doubt, a dry white wine is often a safer choice than a red wine.
Pairings by type of vegetarian dish:
- Vegetables
- Recommended wines: Fresh, fruity whites with good acidity.
- Examples: Muscadet, Chablis, Menetou-Salon, Sylvaner, Jacquère wines
- Summer alternative: light Provençal Rosé
Tip: don’t overuse vinegar in your vinaigrette, as it can detract from the wine’s harmony.
2. Green vegetables
- Recommended wines: dry whites
- Examples: Provence whites (Bellet, Côtes-de-Provence, Bandol), wines made from the Rolle grape (Vermentino)
Special cases:
- White asparagus: dry Riesling, dry Vouvray
- Green asparagus : Muscat sec alsacien, Condrieu
- Artichokes: very dry, mineral whites (Muscadet, Alsatian Sylvaner)
3. Potatoes
- Simple preparations: Dry whites (Chablis, Chignin, Sylvaner) or light reds (Beaujolais, Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil)
- Creamy preparations: Smoother whites (Chardonnays from Mâconnais or Jura, Savoyard whites).
4. Simmered vegetables with tomatoes
- Recommended wines: Southern reds
- Examples: Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages, Provençal reds, certain Languedoc vintages
- Summer alternative: vinous rosés (Tavel, Roussillon rosé)
5. Carrots and mushrooms
- Carrots : Fruity, low-tannin reds (Beaujolais, generic Burgundy, Loire wines based on Gamay or Pinot Noir)
- Mushrooms :
- Ceps : Ripe Bordeaux reds (Pomerol, Saint-Émilion)
- Girolles: Burgundy full-bodied whites (Côte de Beaune)
- Morels: Oxidative Jura wines
Conclusion
Although wine-vegetable pairings can be complex, there are many ways to enhance your vegetarian dishes. Don’t hesitate to experiment and find the combinations you like best.
