What is Plant & Vine?
Plant & Vine seeks to deliver veggie and wine realness to every table. Our goal is to deconstruct traditional food narratives by breaking beyond formulaic meat and wine pairings. We’re building a new space where plant-based food and wine gets the time and space it deserves. Born from Kerrie’s love for (mostly) healthy and (always) fun plant-based food, wines from near and far, and funky food photography, Plant & Vine reimagines your breakfast, lunch, and dinner to be more colorful, more accessible, and more delicious. Welcome to the intersection of Plant & Vine.
Who is Kerrie?
Kerrie is the photographer, content developer, and perpetual food and wine student behind Plant & Vine. She has never been satisfied with following a recipe word-for-word and prefers the surprises that emerge when veering from suggestion. After being diagnosed with breast cancer at age 30, Kerrie began following a plant-based diet and hasn’t looked back since. Kerrie is a photographer, wine nerd, and lifelong learner—currently spending evenings in photography classes and studying for the Wine Spirit Education Trust Level III exam. She lives in Seattle with her wife, Shae, and their dog, Otis. When not taking photos or cooking new foods, the trio can be found tasting Washington wines, enjoying a Pacific Northwest hike, or curled up with a book amidst the Seattle grey.
A plant-based preface:
I drink wine. I love wine. But, several months into my “vegan-ish” diet, I was surprised to learn that wine can’t always be classified as vegan or even vegetarian. Common “fining” agents used to clarify wine sometimes include: casein (milk protein), albumin (egg whites), gelatin (animal protein), and isinglass (fish bladder protein). These animal-based proteins are typically filtered out before bottling but some animal-protein particles inevitably slip through. Wines that use these fining agents are not vegan, and–depending on the original fining agent–may not be vegetarian.
So, how does wine drinking work with a vegan or vegetarian diet? Simply put, it’s a personal choice about what works for you. My choice to follow a plant-based diet is based on health. I see health holistically, with food, exercise, emotional balance, and low stress all playing important roles. My focus is to eat healthy and nourish my body. For me, it’s important to not let diet be an additional source of stress, so I resort to a “vegan-ish” diet if I can only access vegetarian food or wine. I also respect others’ choices about how to engage with this decision, since it is ultimately a personal one.
All of this being said, vegan wine does exist! There are clay and charcoal-based fining agents that are 100% vegan. I recommend a mix of wines on this blog and will label vegetarian and vegan wines as such where I’m able to confidently label them as such. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out.