In Holland, two new special wines were presented: The ViniVegas. They are made from 100% tomato and 100% bell pepper. The peppers come from grower De Wieringermeer, the tomatoes from grower Van der Kaaij.
For grower Theo van der Kaaij, it is important to use his tomatoes that are not suitable as class I product. "They are tasty tomatoes which are otherwise wasted," says van der Kaaij. That is why he came up with the idea to make wine from these tomatoes.
Viticulturist Ilse Visscher: "Just like with the juice from grapes, wine can be made with tomato juice."
Eventually two wines were developed solely from vegetables. The pepper wine has a distinctive peppery flavor. The tomato wine is subtle, and the taste of the vegetable is less conspicuously present.
In Belgium and Germany cooks are also keen on it and want to promote the wines. Last week the ViniVega was launched internationally at the trade fair Anuga in Cologne. Market research shows that the catering industry is also an interesting target group. "Vegetables are hugely popular with restaurants and chefs are always looking for something new, something innovative," said Visscher. On average, a Dutchman in the supermarket pays a few euros for a bottle of wine. Vegetable wine through retail will be sold for 14.95 euros per bottle, which makes it an interesting export item as well.
Watch a video to see how the wine is produced.