Wine selections, other factors

[trididos]

Hi. I have a question for a few of you, or mainly just an observation. In most of the books and articles I read, references or merely just casual wine talk most people will suggest a wine for a meal or a course depending on the dessert or the meats being served. However I am a vegetarian, thus the meat factor can fail. However the vegetarian banter I have heard most revolves around some type of rabbit foods. I have found that an interesting way of defining certain types of wines and their "general" complimenting foods has indeed come from the lack of meats in my diet. Complimenting an interesting pasta dinner or course (from someone well-heeled of the culinary selections, of course) can actually involve a dessert wine! I know, it sounds a little studded by it's very suggestion. I was at a restaurant that serves fine foods however their wine selection was horrible. I chose a Llano Blush on the list above the others and I was actually thrilled. My meal consisted of a tomato, oil, basil and goat cheese sauce on pasta that was cooked with capers. The wine pulled out a very interesting texture in the meal.

This may all be beyond any points to be made, but I am curious if any others out there have happened upon good combinations for meatless diets, or, perhaps a good textual source on the subject.

cheers

Jacob

[Bucko]

I think we all like to kill animals here....

[Innkeeper]

Having gone through a number of diets with my true love before they discovered she was carbohydrate intolerant, as you may guess we were vegetarians for a few years. We learned how to create a wide variety of dishes from a number of cuisines. We found that matching wine with them was like any other wine match up. Heavier dishes we had with red wine, and lighter ones whites or rose's.

Fruitier wines go well with sweet meals. Acidic wines go with acidic meals, partiularly those with tomatoes. There are wines you could describe has having a lot of texture such as the big reds, e.g. Barolo. These match well with heavily textured vegie dishes. We acutally enjoyed the flexibility of matching wines with meatless meals, because we felt no obligation to have a certain wine with a certain food, as in cabernet with steak.

[Thomas]

Among the best wines--but not the only ones--I have found to pair with a variety of vegetarian meals are Dolcetto D'Alba (for the densely textured) and Gruner Veltliner (for the lighter).

[winecollector]

Two thumbs up on both types of wine Foodie recommended. Had a 98' Vietti Dolcetto D Alba yesterday, and it would do nicely, and Heidler makes a great Grunner Veltliner for the money when you can find it. Both should run you around $15.