How to Pair Vegan Cheese and Wine

In partnership with Honestly Tasty

There's something about cheese and wine pairing that can't be explained. Absolutely everyone loves it. And here's what's great: you don't need dairy to create those wonderful food moments. Vegan cheese and wine together? Absolutely brilliant, and we're here to prove it and guide you through how to pair your vegan cheese with vegan wines.

WIN A VEGAN CHEESE AND WINE HAMPER: Until Nov 20th, we're running a competition with a chance to win a Vegan Cheese & Wine Hamper → Sign up now

 

Not All Wines are Vegan?

This surprises most people, but not, not all wines are vegan.

During winemaking, many producers use "fining agents" to clarify wine and remove unwanted particles. Traditional fining agents include:

• Isinglass (fish bladder protein)
  
• Casein (milk protein)
• Albumin (egg whites)
• Gelatin (animal collagen)

These agents bind to particles in the wine and are then filtered out, but trace amounts can remain, making some wines non-vegan.

Vegan wines use plant-based or mineral alternatives:

• Bentonite clay
  
• Pea protein
• Activated charcoal
• Or simply let the wine clarify naturally over time (our favourite method!)

At Forest Wines, we stock an exceptional and extensive range of vegan wines: many from natural winemakers who let their wines settle naturally. Real winemaking, real ingredients and real flavour.

👉 Explore our Vegan wine collection

How Vegan Cheese is made

Vegan cheesemaking has evolved far beyond what it used to be, and it's grown into a flavoursome and diverse category. From creamy spreads to aged, mould-ripened wheels, there are many ways to turn plants into cheese: each with its own texture, flavour, and philosophy.

The many ways to make Vegan cheese

Starch & Oil-Based Cheeses

This method blends starches such as potato or tapioca with plant oils like coconut or shea. It’s a simple, clever way to achieve that familiar stretch and melt that so many people look for in cheese. The result is smooth, mild, and easy to use for cooking or snacking.

Nut & Seed-Based Cheeses

Often made from cashews, almonds, or sunflower seeds, these cheeses are blended and sometimes fermented to create rich, creamy textures. They can be eaten fresh or aged for deeper flavours, offering endless room for creativity.

Legume & Soy-Based Cheeses

Using ingredients like soybeans or faba beans, this approach focuses on protein and nutrition. It’s often used for nut-free options and brings a satisfying savoury depth, especially when combined with live cultures or flavourings.

Cultured & Fermented Cheeses

Some vegan cheesemakers use live cultures or moulds to ferment and ripen their cheeses, similarly to traditional cheesemaking. This process builds complex flavours and aromas, resulting in products that can rival aged dairy cheese in richness and character.

How Honestly Tasty crafts their Cheeses

Honestly Tasty combines plant-based innovation with fermentation, where they combine the best of accessibility and artisanal making: 

• Their cheeses are made with plant oils (e.g., rice bran oil, shea butter), starches (tapioca, potato), plus plant-protein (faba bean), and flavour-building ingredients such as miso, nutritional yeast, seaweed extract and live cultures. 

• For fermentation, they use lactic acid and cultures.

• Some varieties undergo mould ripening, with rinds or veining, which adds a layer of complexity you don’t often see in many mass vegan cheeses. Their Blue, for instance, is mould-ripened with real Penicillium roqueforti mold cultures (the actual blue cheese bacteria) for added flavour and texture.

• The result: a cheese that is consciously plant-based yet behaves more like traditional cheese in texture, flavour and pairing potential.

The results are cheeses that are consciously plant-based yet behaves more like a traditional cheese in texture, flavour as well as wine pairing potential.

👉 Explore our Honestly Tasty vegan cheese collection

 

Pairing Vegan Cheese and Wine: Honestly Tasty meets Forest Wines

Honestly Tasty Vegan Brie Cheese + White wines with a slight of natural funkiness

The Brie-style vegan cheese (Bree) from Honestly Tasty is soft, creamy and has subtle mushroom and buttery notes. It demands a wine with enough acidity to cut through that rich texture, while complementing those delicate flavours. We recommend going towards white wines with a refreshing minerality and citrus notes for a palate cleanser feel while cutting through the rich texture without overpowering the delicate / mild flavours. As this brie as a nutty feel to it, a slightly oaked Chardonnay would also work great.

Honestly Tasty Vegan Blue Cheese + Dessert Wines

The Blue-style vegan cheese has pungent, salty, bold character. To meet that you need a wine with sweetness, richness and depth; allowing salt and sweetness to play off each other, you can think of classics such as Sauternes or Sherry. For red wines, we would go on something on the heavier side, but as this blue style cheese is slightly less strong than a Roquefort, perhaps a balanced and young Malbec or Merlot would work great.

Try these pairings:

• Oloroso Dry Sherry, El Maestro Sierra – Andalucia, Spain; (Palomino)
  Rich, nutty, oxidative: a strong match for the blue cheese’s intensity.
• Vin Santo del Chianti, Fattoria di Sammontana – Tuscany, Italy; (Trebbiano, Malvasia, San Colombano)
  Honeyed sweetness, dried apricot, almond notes: the perfect foil for the salty cheese.

 

Honestly Tasty Vegan Spreadable Garlic & Herbs + The Wild Card

This crowd-pleaser cheese is full of flavour (garlic, herbs), spreadable and fun. The surprise pairing: sparkling red wine. The bubbles cut through richness, the red wine character handles the herbs and garlic well, and the chill keeps it refreshing. Spread this on crusty bread, pour a sparkling red, and watch it win.

Serving tip: Also works great with crisp whites, light reds or rosé; this one is very versatile.

 

Building Your Vegan Cheese & Wine Board

Your perfect platter:

1. Choose 3-4 cheeses of varying textures and intensities

2. Add fresh & dried fruits (grapes, figs, apples, apricots)

3. Include nuts (walnuts for the blue, almonds for Brie)

4. Offer crusty bread or high-quality crackers

5. Add a honey-alternative (especially for the blue pairing)

6. Garnish with fresh herbs

Wine strategy:

• Start light: white wines with Brie

• Move to more complex: orange wines with Camembert

• Finish bold: dessert wines with blue

• Keep sparkling red wine on hand all along (especially with the spreadable)

Temperature tips:

• Remove cheeses from the fridge ~30-45 minutes before serving

• White/orange wines at ~10-14°C

• Dessert wines at ~8-10°C

• Sparkling reds at ~6-8°C

 

Celebrate World Vegan Month with us

This November, explore the world of vegan wine and cheese pairing. Whether you’re hosting a dinner party, planning a cosy date night, or treating yourself to a Friday-night cheese board, this collaboration between Forest Wines and Honestly Tasty proves that plant-based pairing is every bit as sophisticated, nuanced and joyful as anything dairy-based.

Visit us at Forest Wines to explore our full range of vegan wines, or shop online for delivery across the UK. Grab some Honestly Tasty cheese, follow these pairings, and discover that the best cheese boards have nothing to do with dairy, and everything to do with quality, craft and the perfect bottle. 

+ Until the Nov 20th, we're running a competition with a chance to win a Vegan Cheese & Wine Hamper → Sign up now

👉 Explore our Vegan wine collection

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Are all your wines at Forest Wines vegan?
We stock a large selection of vegan-friendly wines, clearly marked with a vegan badge. Many natural/minimal-intervention wines are vegan by default, since they skip traditional fining altogether. Check the product page or ask us in-store.

Can I really not taste the difference between vegan and dairy cheese when paired with wine?
With artisan vegan cheeses like Honestly Tasty, which use thoughtful ingredient blends, fermentation and mould ripening, the pairing principles are identical. Acidity, tannin and sweetness interact in the same way. Depending on the process, some vegan cheese tend to be nuttier, which is something to keep in mind when pairing.

What if I’m serving both vegans and non-vegans?
These pairings work beautifully for everyone. Good quality vegan cheese can surprise even dairy-loving guests. Build your board without emphasising “vegan” and enjoy the reactions.

Where can I buy Honestly Tasty cheese?
Honestly Tasty is available via selected UK retailers (e.g., on Ocado, in M&S) and through their own website. 

Which wines tend to be naturally vegan-friendly?
Natural, low-intervention wines (especially many orange wines, organic and biodynamic producers) are often good places to start. When unsure, ask us at Forest Wines.

Can I pair vegan cheese with red wine?
Absolutely. While we’ve highlighted certain pairings above, lighter reds (Gamay, Pinot Noir, Loire Cabernet Franc) can work very well, particularly with medium-intensity vegan cheeses like the Camembert or aged styles.

Do vegan wines taste different from non-vegan wines?
Not necessarily. The fining process affects clarity, not flavour. Many wine lovers actually prefer unfined, or minimally fined wines for their richer textures and more authentic expression.