Welcome to the first-ever all-veggie Vin-atics! We’re very excited this month to announce that all our dishes are meat-free, a third of them are vegan and all of them are delicious. We all know we ought to eat less meat for the good of our health and the planet in general so here is the perfect opportunity to try out something new!
People frequently think that matching wine to vegetarian dishes is harder than matching it to meat – absolutely not the case at all! You get the full range of strong to delicate flavours in vegetarian cookery just as you do when you use meat, the only thing I would suggest you keep an eye on is the ‘weight’ of your food and make sure it is matched to suitably weighty wines. Also, be aware that dishes using a lot of things such as tomatoes and asparagus can be a little problematic with wine – the only answer is to experiment and open lots of bottles!
Veggie Vin-atics Dinner – 13th April
Which is certainly something we intend to do when we hold our Vin-atics dinner on Wednesday 13th April. We’ve found some fabulous foodies and winos who are going to join us at Chef Caro’s lovely home to meet her little babas and hunky hubby and eat her delicious foods. Here’s the fabulous menu she’s concocted this month:
Roast pepper and tomato soup
Aubergines with goats cheese
Gnocchi with gorgonzola
Red lentil curry
Pear and blue cheese tart
Apple Crumble
Which we’re going to pair with the following awesome wines:
Nitida Semillon 2010
De Wetshof Limestone Hill Unwooded Chardonnay 2009
Ridgeback Natural Sweet Viognier 2010
Groote Post Old Man’s Blend Red 2010
Journey’s End Merlot 2007
Simonsig The SMV 2009
Are these pairings going to work? Will we desperately need to add bacon to everything (that’s gonna work with the crumble!)? Can we remember how to be civilised after all the skank of last months Zef braai Vin-atics?? Who can tell? The only way to know is to follow us on Twitter on the night or simply have a go yourself and WIN WINE!!
Sue’s a WINNER!!
This month’s winner is blogger Sous Chef for her hilarious account of her Zef braai party in Pietermaritzburg – mind you, anyone brave enough to wear those outfits gets my vote. I laughed my mid-calf-length socks off and I bet you do too. She wins herself a R500 Cybercellar voucher and there is another one up for grabs for you too this month!
All you have to do is sign up for Vin-atics by clicking here (it’s free by the way!!), then go to our Vin-atics Tasting Notes for April to find all the lowdown on the food and wine. Pick a couple of wines, pick a couple of dishes, cook ‘em, photograph ‘em, enjoy ‘em and then TELL US ALL ABOUT IT!! Sue did, and won big – the next winner could be you!
Happy drinking!