Vegan Wines
With the start of Christmas fasting, more attention is being paid to vegan dishes . And whether it's a lifestyle or just a 40-day period when we exclude animal products from our diet, a few questions come to mind. Are they fasting wines? Are animal ingredients used in winemaking? Are vegan wines an alternative to these diets?
We will answer all of these questions in today's article.
We start by understanding what fasting is, what foods are allowed and what is forbidden.
Fasting & Wine.
Romania is an Orthodox country, and according to the faith, several periods of fasting are established during the year, which consist in abstaining from all foods of animal origin. This is not a bad thing if we consider that after this a festive period full of meetings with family and friends awaits us, in which food and cakes will be very present on our tables, and it goes without saying that there are days when we will definitely gain a few extra pounds.
For Christians, fasting means a state of preparation or a state of waiting for the holiday.
One of the two most important positions of the year is that of Christmas, which began on November 15 and ends on December 24. It is defined by Christians as an easy fast because during the 40 days there are many releases of fish and, of course, wine .
At this time of year we have a lot of vegetables to prepare simple, vegan and very healthy dishes, for example, one of our favorite vegan recipes is " Zacusca ", a pasta made of ripe eggplant, red pepper and onion, a dish that reminds me of the Spanish escalivada Catalan, because the ingredients are the same, although the preparation is very different.
Another vegan dish that is eaten before Christmas is " Beaten Beans " which can be accompanied by onions hardened with carrots, a dish that is served cold as an appetizer and that goes perfectly with our vegan white wines.
Interestingly, once the fasting period is over, the main dishes will be based on pork. Dishes that can be accompanied by a wide range of red or sparkling wines. But we will talk more about these in a future article.
What are vegan wines?
Going back to vegan wines , they are the alternative to classic wines for both vegans and those who choose to fast.
It should be clear to us that not all vegan wines are organic and not all organic wines are vegan, just as we should not confuse a vegetarian with a vegan.
A vegetarian is allowed to eat three products of animal origin, such as milk, honey and eggs, but a vegan cannot include them in his diet. The winemaking process often includes products of animal origin even when agriculture is organic.
An organic wine can be clarified with albumin of animal origin, such as milk (casein) used to clarify white and rosé wines, or egg (egg white) used to clarify white and rosé and red wines.
A vegan wine cannot use any product of animal origin , so it is either bottled without clarification or clarified with vegetable proteins, such as potatoes, or of mineral origin, such as bentonite, a clay powder used primarily. for clarification of white wines.
After fermentation, the vegan wine is cloudy, as different types of natural matter remain in the wine in suspension, which must fall to the bottom of the tank, which is why they are left in the tank to stabilize the wine.
Sometimes these particles are not completely removed because they are too small, and then the oenologist decides to use gluing agents. The glue is made to clean the wines so that no particles remain in suspension, another reason being to make the wines bright and attractive to the eyes.
Vegan wines bear a distinctive label certifying that these wines do not use animal-derived elements in their production. This distinctive label is V-Label , the European vegetarian label that certifies the authenticity of this wine as vegan.
Vegan Wines Recommendations
In our online store, you will find a large selection of vegan wines , ideal for these vegan dishes that are consumed these days, because some are consumed cold, as an appetizer, I thought of three of our white vegan wines, which I personally I like them very much.
Rrom Bodega Sierra Norte, organic and vegan, a blend of Verdejo and Macabeo grape varieties, a very fresh wine with good acidity, a wine with great aromatic potential and which has received several awards for its outstanding quality.
From the same winery, vegan and also highly prized as the previous one, this single-variety Muscatel is aged for a short time on fine yeast, until its subsequent bottling. The vineyard from which the grapes come is durable and has good biological conditions, which allows this wine to express its full aromatic potential and to have a balance and structure suitable for any combination with rice or pasta.
Viña Esmeralda
One of the most famous wineries internationally is Bodega Torres, and one of its most famous wines is a blend of Moscatel de Alejandría and Gewürztraminer, an ideal wine to be matched with any vegetable with sweet connotations, such as would be fried onions, a light, fresh wine with citrus notes and a moderate alcohol content, Viña Esmeralda is a very easy wine to drink, perfect for those who are just beginning to be interested in the world of wine.
Fresh, dynamic and well-structured Syrah monovariet with a beautiful strawberry color, Parvus has a good aromatic intensity, floral notes and an aroma light and curious tomato plant, a sweet wine with a long and persistent finish.
El Pícaro , young and bold, and El Recio
With 14 months of aging and silky and velvety tannins, are made entirely from Tinta Fina, called Tempranillo in Rioja, but with a totally different behavior. Two excellent wines, with body and character, able to transform any meal into a unique moment, two wines with a very different personality, but with a structure and balance worthy of the most select wines, both with fourteen and a half degrees and both with a fantastic value for money.
In our online store, we have a winery that produces vegan and organic wines whose philosophy deserves special respect, it is the Matsu Winery.
Matsu in Japanese means wait, the name of this winery is a tribute to all those winemakers, who for centuries worked in the vineyard, devoting all their effort, respect and sacrifice, treating it with love, to stop time, this winery continues to bet, in a unique region like Ribera de Duero, for those small winemakers who offer them the best selection of grapes for the production of wines, also authentic, like them.
From Las Moradas de San Martín, because it is a strong wine with a beautiful color of cherries, aromas of violets, plums and wild flowers, Senda is a wine with a very pleasant mineral finish, this is due to the granite soil in which is the vineyard, a wine that, despite the ten months of aging, does not have much wood, but is very subtle and elegant, it also has a good structure and a lot of body.
Whether fruits and vegetables are the main ingredients of your menus permanently or occasionally, vegan wines are the best alternative to enjoy the benefits and flavors of wines without animal elements. Discover all the above recommendations and more in our DiS & DiS store. We are sure that they will fit perfectly with your vegan dishes during these fasting days.
We thank our friend Isabela Zaro for all the information in this article.
See you soon wine lovers,
Dis&Dis Team
