5 Spanish Wines to Serve with Vegetable Dishes

Discover the perfect pairing for your veggie dishes!

By: Sommelier - 19/05/2023

Mixed fruits served on ceramic plates. Photo by Stefan Johnson from Unsplash.

As more people embrace the benefits of a plant-based diet, vegetable dishes are becoming increasingly popular. However, finding the right wine to complement the flavours of these dishes can be a challenge.

The wrong pairing can overpower or clash with the subtle tastes of vegetables, but the right one can bring out their best qualities and make for an unforgettable dining experience.

In this article, we'll explore five Spanish wines that pair perfectly with vegetable dishes. Whether you're hosting a dinner party, celebrating a special occasion, or simply looking for new taste sensations to try at home, these wines will elevate your meal and delight your taste buds.

Habla del Silencio 2021

Habla del Silencio by Bodegas Habla is a very generous and fresh wine that when tasted blindly resembles the aromas of pink champagne: impressive! A wine with many virtues, easy to drink, and an excellent choice to explore the wines of Extremadura and this winery.

Its intense purple-blackberry colour leads us to a host of delightful, attractive, and powerful aromas of nutmeg, graphite, blackcurrant and cassis (very pronounced aromas found in Champagne rosé wines), while the rotation of the glass reveals elegant notes of mushrooms, cream and baking.

If you're looking for vegetable dishes to pair with Bodegas Habla's Habla del Silencio 2021, consider roasted root vegetables, eggplant parmesan, ratatouille, mushroom risotto, or vegetable lasagna. These dishes typically incorporate herbs and spices like thyme, rosemary, garlic, and black pepper that work well with the wine's flavour profile.

Barón de Ley Reserva 2018

The Barón de Ley Reserva is a wine that perfectly combines the flavours of fruit and complexity, making it a standout choice for wine enthusiasts in the 21st century. The wine is primarily made using Tempranillo grapes sourced from vineyards owned by the winery in Mendavia.

The wine is aged for 20 months in new American oak barrels, followed by 24 months of rest in a bottle, which gives it a full and aromatic taste. The wine offers a delightful and fruity aroma of raspberries and blackberries, with hints of coconut, caramel, and mountain herbs.

It has a bright cherry red colour with a claret-coloured edge and dense and plentiful legs. When tasted, the wine has rounded tannins, a reasonable degree of acidity, and a full and unctuous mouthfeel. Retronasal aromas of pepper, nutmeg, and vanilla blend with ripe fruit flavours, while delicate notes of cocoa and fine smoky hints appear in the background.

The wine's complex bouquet leads to a long and intense finish that is enriched with red fruit flavours, reminiscent of Mediterranean woodlands. In February 2015, the Barón de Ley Reserva was classified as exceptional by the tasting panel of the British magazine Decanter, achieving first place with 95 points among 95 Rioja wines tasted.

Here are some vegetable dishes that would pair well with Barón de Ley Reserva 2018: stuffed bell peppers, grilled vegetables, cauliflower curry, sweet potato casserole, lentil stew, and butternut squash soup.

Recaredo Terrers Brut Nature 2019

Recaredo is a well-known name in the world of wine, synonymous with quality, elegance, and attention to detail. Their Cavas are exceptional and have surprised many who have tasted them blind, often outperforming famous Champagnes.

The winery, with almost a century of experience, has maintained a unique style since its inception. They take a professional, sincere, and artisanal approach to winemaking, paying close attention to every step of the process from the vineyard to the bottle. Their dedication to quality and consumer satisfaction is evident in everything they do.

Their entry-level Cava, Recaredo Terrers, is a brut nature Cava, which means it is made without the addition of sugar. Despite being completely dry, it is incredibly smooth on the palate, thanks to excellent grape maturity and extended ageing.

All of their Cavas are Gran Reservas, and some of the base wines are aged in oak barrels, adding complexity and refinement to the final product.

Visually, Recaredo Terrers has very fine bubbles that slowly rise to the top of the glass. On the nose, it is mineral with calcareous soils, fresh ripe white fruit, subtle smoky notes, a gentle floral perfume, and a hint of bitter almonds. On the palate, it is creamy and glides lightly over the tongue with a refined carbonic presence.

Floral notes and fresh country aromas such as fennel appear after a slight temperature rise in the glass, with the creaminess balanced by an acidity achieving the perfect equilibrium.

Here are some vegetable dishes that would pair well with Recaredo Terrers Brut Nature 2019: grilled asparagus, Caprese salad, chickpea salad, roasted brussels sprouts, ratatouille, avocado toast, grilled portobello mushrooms.

José Pariente Verdejo 2022

The José Pariente Verdejo is a wine that has earned high praise within the Rueda DO. It is a delightful and expressive wine with a silky and unctuous texture that embodies the key attributes of a Verdejo wine: freshness, good acidity, herbaceous and floral notes, and a touch of bitterness.

The winery employs a hands-on approach to viticulture, with a focus on sustainability and research and development.

In appearance, this wine displays a golden hue with hints of green, while on the nose it reveals fragrant aromas of peach, fennel, tropical fruits, and grass. On the palate, it is fresh, silky, and mineral, making it an excellent complement to salads and vegetables.

Here are some vegetable dishes that would pair well with José Pariente Verdejo 2022: grilled vegetables, gazpacho, summer salad, roasted asparagus, green beans almondine, and stuffed bell peppers.

Viña Zorzal Malayeto 2020

In 2013, Viña Zorzal embarked on a project focused on the unique terroir of Fitero, a municipality in Navarra located between the Sierra de Cameros and the Ebro Basin. Malayeto is the result of their sustainable winemaking techniques that prioritize biodiversity and native flora. This Garnacha is a truly exceptional wine, bursting with life, fruit, and elegance.

Malayeto has an open and expressive nose, with fresh fruit and ripe, almost jam-like aromas typical of Grenache wines. It also features mineral, balsamic, and fine wood notes that evoke the wild Mediterranean forest.

On the palate, it is fruity, complex, and balanced with a concentration that is tempered by the exuberance and acidity of the wine. The wine has a fleshy texture and is extremely well-produced.

A variety of vegetable dishes, especially hearty and savoury ones like roasted root vegetables, butternut squash risotto, spicy lentil soup, roasted vegetable lasagna, and spinach and feta-stuffed mushrooms, pair well with Via Zorzal Malayeto 2020 wine.

Conclusion

Choosing the ideal wine to go with veggie meals can be challenging. However, this article has identified five wine selections that might improve your dining experience and bring out the flavours of vegetable meals.

These wines are versatile and go well with a range of vegetable recipes, including vegetable lasagna, ratatouille, eggplant parmesan and roasted root vegetables. These excellent wines can enhance the flavour of your vegetable recipes. Try matching them with the recommended foods to enhance your eating experience.

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