Your guide to vegan wines

Did you know wine sometimes contains traces of animal products? We’re not talking about critters that might get caught up in the crusher; it’s about what happens in the winemaking process. If you’re a vegan or vegetarian, this may be an issue for you, but thankfully winemakers have adapted their techniques to cater for all consumers.

A fine solution

When it’s young, a wine usually appears cloudy and includes floaters. These will correct naturally over time, but to speed things up, winemakers usually put them through a manual fining process. When a fining agent is added to a wine, it either binds to the suspended solids and causes them to fall to the bottom, or it absorbs them.

Animal agents

Fining agents come in many guises and some of them are derived from animal products and the most common ones include: blood and bone marrow, isinglass (gelatine from fish bladder membranes), egg albumen, fish oil, gelatine and milk protein. That’s why you often see disclaimers on wine labels such as, “May contain traces of egg white or fish products.” These traces are problematic for vegetarians and for vegans whose diet and lifestyle eliminates anything containing animal products or by-products.

The solution

Thankfully, vegans and vegetarians can still enjoy a good drop whilst knowing no animal products have been used in the process. There are vegan wines available for which winemakers have used non-animal derived fining agents such as different types of clay, limestone and silica gel.

Keen to add some vegan drops to your collection? Check out our quality range of red and white vegan wines.