Wine Pairings with Vegan and Vegetarian Meals Made Easy

Wine paring with vegan meals can be easy. Here are a few simple solutions for wine paring that will enhance your enjoyment of vegan meals.

One of the simplest wine paring solutions is to serve a Pinot Grigio with most of your vegan meals. You can't go wrong pairing a good Pinot Grigio like a Santa Margherita, Barefoot or Eco Domani with virtually any vegetarian dish. Unlike other varities of wine, Pinot Grigios tend to have very consistent flavor characteristics, regardless of which brand you buy.Pinot Grigios are light, dry and crisp and go perfectly with any vegetable, bean, rice or egg-free pasta recipe.

Chardonnays have varying degrees of "nutty", "buttery", "oak", "herbal", "fruity", woodsy" or other characteristic overtones that complicate pairing with vegan or vegetarian meals. Sauvignon Blancs vary widely in terms of their "sweetness" or "fruitiness" depending on the winery and the region in which they are grown. Pinot Grigios, on the other hand, tend to be very consistently crisp and dry with just the right acidity to complement vegan or vegetarian meals. Another advantage of Pinot Grigios is that you can buy a good one for about $10 a bottle.

For people who prefer red wines, or want a more full bodied wine to accompany a "faux-meat" vegan or vegetarian meal, a Beaujolais makes an excellent wine pairing. Beaujolais tend to be consistently light and fruity making them the ideal wine to pair with "heartier" or "bolder vegan or vegetarian dishes. Louis Jardot and Georges Duboeuf are two readily available Beaujolais costing between $10 an $15 a bottle.

Another vegan wine pairing idea is to find a winery or brand with several different wines you like that make perfect accompaniments to your favorite recipes. Barefoot is an award-winning California winery that produces a variety of consistently fine wines that make excellent pairings with vegan or vegetarian meals.

Barefoot produces an excellent Pinot Grigio and a perfectly balanced Chardonnay that is neither "too fruity" or "too woodsy". Both wines make perfect pairings with any vegan or vegetarian meal. The winery also offers Reslings, Sauvignon Blancs and Moscatos that also offer other wine pairing opportunities.

For the red wine lover, Barefoot's Merlot, Pinot Noir,Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz make perfect pairings for many vegan dishes. Barefoot also produces a Ziffandel, Sweet Red and White Ziffandel that are consistently good and make good vegan pairings as well. The winery also produces 5 "bubbly" wines that make great accompaniments for desserts or are ideal for toasting special occasions. Prices for all Barefoot wines range between $5 and $10 a bottle making them very affordable too.You won't go wrong pairing a Barefoot wine with any vegan or vegetarian meal.