How to Pair Vegan Cheese and Wine Like a Pro

Wine and cheese is a famous pairing that sommeliers, chefs and diners have perfected over centuries. If you’re dairy-free or open to expanding your culinary horizons, do the same rules apply to pairing wine with vegan cheese? The answer is: yes, they do. If you learn the ins and outs of wine and cheese pairings, you can create beautiful plant-based dining experiences.

Let’s talk about cheese first. Why does it go so well with wine? “The acids and tannins in the wine are mitigated by the oily, creamy texture of the cheese, which creates a chemical reaction and a physical sensation on the palate. Exactly the same way tannic, strong tea is sweetened with a touch of milk or milk substitute,” Frances Gonzalez, owner and founder of Vegan Wines, told VegNews. For example, cheese reduces the astringency of red wine while bringing out its fruitiness.

When pairing things the vegan way, you’ll want to choose dairy-free versions of the types of cheeses you typically serve with wine. Think classic wine pairings like Pinot Noir and Gruyere, Champagne and Brie, and Cabernet Sauvignon with aged Cheddar.

“Above any combination or contrast of flavors, you always want to make sure that flavor intensity is roughly equal in cheese and wine, or you’ll lose subtlety for the more delicate element,” explains González.

Fortunately, there is a growing movement of vegan artisan cheese makers following traditional methods. Traditional cheese making requires two key elements: milk and bacterial cultures. As the cheese ferments, its texture becomes drier and its flavor becomes more intense. This is because bacterial cultures break down lactose into lactic acid while proteins become amino acid compounds that give aged cheese its flavor.

Instead of dairy, vegan cheesemakers grind nuts or seeds into a paste, combine them with bacteria, and leave them to age. By recreating the specific circumstances that turn milk and bacteria into stinky cheese, they can turn plant-based ingredients into something that would deceive the most. Cashews, favored by brands such as Miyoko’s Creamery, Nuts for Cheese and The Uncreamery, are the most popular nuts for work, due to their high fat content.

How to choose a vegan wine

Bad news: not all wines are vegan. Good news: but this is often the case. Some winemakers use isinglass (the dried swim bladder of fish) to filter out sediment. This process is called “fining” and it gives the wine a brighter flavor and clearer appearance, but it doesn’t have to use animal by-products. More and more winemakers are adopting animal-free fining practices, including the use of ceramic filters or bentonite clay. Some skip this clearing process altogether.

When looking for wine, check “vegan” on the label. If there’s no indication of how the wine was filtered, check out our vegan wine guide or search for the company on Barnivore.com, an extensive database of vegan libations.

Tips for pairing vegan wine with cheese

The same rules you would apply to pairing a wine with a dairy-based cheese apply to steeping your favorite vino with an artisanal vegan cheese.

Throughout this guide, we refer to types of vegan cheese, such as mozzarella or camembert, but we may not recommend a brand for every suggestion. Check out our vegan cheese guide for a more complete list of which brands make which varieties.

Nuts for Cheese

1 Match age and intensity

Just as cheese gets bolder and bolder as it ages, wine undergoes a transformation, becoming heavier and bolder. Reds become more earthy while clear whites take on straw hues. Young wines, on the other hand, tend to have notes of fruit, flowers, citrus, herbs and spices, and they pair well with creamy, plant-based cheeses.

Heavy, tannic reds pair well with flavor-rich dry aged vegan cheeses. Try cabernet sauvignon with vegan brie or sharp, aged cheddar. Or pair Chardonnay with vegan Camembert or Gruyere.

Sparkling wines, dry rosés, light red wines and crisp white wines will be delicious with mozzarella or vegan goat cheese. These are dairy-free versions of fresh cheeses, cheeses made from fresh curds that have not been aged. The flavor ranges from sweet to pungent and the texture can range from spreadable to crumbly.

Agreements: Bokisch Andrus Island Albariño 2020 and Cultured Kindness Cashew Chevre, Luca Di Tomaso Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG 2016 and Nuts for Cheese Un-Brie-Lievable

Maker

2 Salty and funky go together

While it’s natural to combine cheeses of similar ages, this pairing is all about contrast. Break out the sweet wines if you’re serving pungent, washed-rind, and blue-veined vegan cheeses, including gorgonzola and blue cheese. The sugars in the wine balance out the funk while the cheese prevents the sweetness of the wine from overpowering your palate. Choose dessert wines like Moscato d’Asti or Riesling, or opt for a sweet red wine, like Zinfandel or Port.

Pairing: Michael Klouda Hatterle Zinfandel 2016 and Virgin Cheese Organic Artisan Bleu, Maker Wine Dry Dry Sparkling Riesling and SriMu Imagine

Sri Mu

3 Sparkling wine loves soft cheeses

Sparkling wine is suitable for all occasions, with its effervescent bubbles dancing across your palate, generally high acidity, and flavors ranging from very dry (extra brut) to distinctly sweet (demi-sec). Although there are many types of sparkling wine, the three most popular are champagne, prosecco and cava, while sparkling rosé has become a bigger fan in recent years.

The bubbles provide a palate-clearing effect after the fat from a bite of a rich, creamy, or funky vegan cheese like Brie, Muenster, Camembert, or Mozzarella coats your mouth. Hard nut, nutty, and aged cheeses will also work.

Agreements: 2019 Tarantas Sparkling White and Miyoko’s Creamery Organic Cashew Mozzarella, Surely Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Rosé and SriMu Elder-Brie

Rescue Dog Wines

4 Pair vegan wines and cheeses from similar regions

They say that what grows together goes together. This nugget of wisdom applies to both cooking and wine and cheese pairings. Summer produce like zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and basil go together harmoniously. Likewise, wine and cheese from the same region usually go well together.

Because the vegan artisan cheese market is still growing, don’t worry if you can’t find a legitimate plant-based version of Époisses de Bourgogne to pair with your Burgundy wine. An approximation works just fine. So try sauvignon blanc with vegan goat cheese or make a bottle of prosecco with a Caprese salad with cashew mozzarella.

Agreements: Rescue Dog Wines Sauvignon Blanc and Spero Foods The Goat, Tiamo Organic Prosecco and Catalyst Creamery Mozzarella

Miyoko Creamery

5 If in doubt…

If you’re planning on serving an assortment of vegan cheeses and want to simplify wine selection, you can rarely go wrong with something sparkling, like champagne. However, any sparkling wine, from dry to sweet, will work with a plant-based cheese board.

“I would lean more towards a mild cheese with herbal flavors, something that will play differently with each wine you offer and bring out the individual characteristics,” says Gonzalez.

On the other hand, sometimes you can have multiple wines and fewer cheeses. Here, you’ll want a firm, cashew-based cheese that strikes the right balance between fat and dry. Wheels of cheese from brands such as Miyoko’s Creamery or Treeline would do well here.

On top of that, you can also consider serving your pairing with crackers, seasonal fruits, nuts, and dark chocolate.

Agreements: Cattier Brut Icon Champagne NV and Miyoko’s Classic Ciboulette, Mujer Andina Levita Rosé Syrah and Treeline Soft French Style Cheese

To learn more about vegan wines and cheeses, read:
VegNews’ Picks for the Best Vegan Wine and Cheese Pairings
8 Fabulous Vegan Cheese Shops in the US
5 must-have cheeses on the vegan cheese board