Vegetarian options for wine
Do you know that it's National Vegetarian Week this week? Do you care? Well, if you're a militant veggie and you drink wine, here's something you should know: most wine isn't vegetarian.
During the winemaking process, gelatine (made of pig or cow bones) and isinglass (fish bladders) are used as fining agents, although only minute traces will show up. There are other fining agents around - egg whites and bentonite (inert clay) - but you will have to ask your wine merchant to point you in the right direction as it won't necessarily say so on the wine bottle's label.
And here's another thing. You should follow a slightly different set of rules when you are choosing wine to go with vegetarian food. First, how are the vegetables cooked? If roasted in the oven, or deep-fried, the flavours will be more intense than if they're boiled, which will make a difference to the wine that will go with them.
Steaming is the gentlest method of cooking, so retaining the freshness of the food is paramount. There's no point drowning steamed veg with a big, blousy Aussie number; go for light-bodied white wines.
Tannin in red wine is a real no-go for steamed vegetables (steamed anything, come to that) but the freshness of crisp, light, dry whites or rosés can bring out their delicate flavours. European whites tend to be subtler than ebullient New World whites.
And then, of course, you must consider your sauce. Add a creamy hollandaise to asparagus and you'll have to rethink your wine - from a grassy Sauvignon Blanc to a peachy, unoaked Chardonnay, say.
As you can see, matching wine with vegetarian food can be tricky. So I sought help from David Daguerre, sommelier and wine buyer for the Admiralty restaurant in Somerset House, London.
Chef Morgan Meunier is repeating the success of last year's "Gastronomique Garden" menu at the Admiralty by offering a five-course veggie special for £37 per person throughout the summer. Daguerre has had to come up with wines to match.
Daguerre has been at the Admiralty for eight months (he previously worked at City Rhodes). In that time he has changed the all-French wine list completely. Most regions are represented, but now there's a heavy swing towards Bordeaux. "It's the most exciting region in France for me at the moment," he says.
Even the wines chosen to go with Meunier's veggie menu are weighted slightly in favour of Bordeaux. "What can I say? I love them," Daguerre says. "Most people in Britain think that Bordeaux is too expensive, but if you really look you'll find good wines that aren't overpriced."
Best overall match, though, was the Bergerac Blanc with the bean soup. The wine cut through the richness of the beans and even managed to bring out the lemon flavour.
The menu's most radical suggestion was the red Graves with the cannelloni of ricotta. "I had too many whites already. If you go for a light red it can work - although the best reds for vegetarian food, I think, are from the Loire," Daguerre says.
"The main thing to remember is that you need to keep the freshness of the vegetables, so you don't want something too fruity or too oaky. And it's better not to have wine at all when you're eating a salad: vinegar will kill any wine."
**Admiralty's Garden Menu with wines
*\ Cream of Tarbais haricot beans, zest of confit lemon, pistou
2001 La Combe de Grinou, Bergerac
\ Terrine of Provençal vegetables, Barigoule sauce
1999 Pernand Vergelesses, Oliver Leflaive, Burgundy
* Poêlée of gnocchi and artichokes, cherry tomato and basil
2000 Harry Natter, Sancerre
\ Steamed asparagus, cannelloni of ricotta cheese and pine nuts, thyme buerre blanc
1998 Château Rahoul, Graves
* Strawberry soufflé and coulis, rhubarb ice-cream
1999 Château de Cros, Lupiac
OR
* Dark chocolate moelleux, milk sorbet and boisson à l'Armagnac
2000 Les Clos de Pauilles Banyuls Château de Jau
