CityLife

Vegetarian wines

Taittinger: veggie bubbly

GEORGE Wrobleski runs one of the most adventurous wine operations in the country from an unprepossessing site off Great Ancoats Street.

It seems appropriate to hail his mail-order Smithfield Wine operation on the eve of National Vegetarian Week (May 18-24) since he stocks a wide range of recommendable vegetarian and vegan wines (as well as Fairtrade, kosher and allergen-free!)

Many wines are not suitable for veggies because they are `fined’ with non-animal and fish by-products. The fining process is to improve a wine’s clarity.

This can be as simple as letting nature take its course through gravity, but this takes time and is not favoured commercially, hence fining agents such as gelatine, chitin, isinglass and (sounds like it’s a star Trek alien force) Sparkolloid.

All are animal or fish-derived. Isinglass, for instance, is made up of collagen fibres, usually the swim bladder of the sturgeon.

Synthetic polymers

To cater for veggies Smithfield stock wines fined with egg albumen and Bentonite, suitable for vegetarians. Vegan finings include kaolin and kieslguhr (clays), plant casein & synthetic polymers.

I’d particularly recommend Smithfield’s Tindall Vineyards’ Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir (£10.60 and £12.40 respectively, plus delivery) from New Zealand and their Australian Jarrah Ridge and McGuigan wines. For further details visit link right.
 

Here are a few more widely available veggie-friendly wines, starting with champagne, naturally. Taittinger Brut Reserve NV (available at most supermarkets and Oddbins from £31.99) is a gorgeous, biscuity drop.

And three reds. Cvne Crianza 2005 (Majestic, £8.25), is a traditional Rioja red. The grapes are handpicked when ripe and given a year in oak to add gorgeous hints of vanilla to the long-finishing cherryish fruit.

From Oz, the medium-bodied, purple-hued Grant Burge Barossa Vines Cabernet/Merlot 2006 (Oddbins, everywine.co.uk, £6.99) smells and tastes of sweet, ripe blackcurrant, mint and green leaf, tempered by subtle oak.

The hand-harvested South African Lourensford Three Peaks Shiraz Viognier 2007 (Oddbins, £7.49) offers white pepper, herbaceous characters on the nose and a great savoury whack of blackberry on the palate.