Vegan Wines
In its purest form, wine is simply grape juice combined with a special variety of yeast and allowed to ferment. Unfortunately, many winemakers speed things up by using a small amount of animal ingredients to capture sediment in the wine. This practice of using foreign ingredients to capture sediments is called fining.
The problem is that it is often very difficult to work out whether a wine is vegan or not. It sometimes is not shown on the label and when it is it may be well disguised. So how can an agricultural product like wine not be vegan?
According to the Spruce Eats vegan wine is as described below
“During the finishing stages of the winemaking process, vintners may choose to make their wine more visually appealing by removing tiny, floating particulate suspended in the liquid, which makes the finished wine appear hazy or cloudy. Since most drinkers prefer a crystal-clear glass of Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, many winemakers elect to have their wines undergo the processes of fining and filtering. It is this fining process that introduces the occasional animal byproduct into wine. Whereas filtering will remove some larger pieces of sediment in the wine, some very small, even microscopic particles called colloids will likely evade the filter and remain in the solution, making the finished product appear cloudy. In fining a substance, or fining agent is introduced into the wine. This substance may be composed of an array of things, including egg whites, isinglass (a protein found in fish air bladders), gelatin, casein (a milk protein), and bentonite, or carbon derived from volcanic ash. The purpose of these fining agents is not to have them remain in the finished wine, rather introduce them to the solution, have them float through and attach themselves chemically to the suspended colloids, and then precipitate out of the solution completely. Although the finished wine should not contain any traces of these fining agents, their use at all prevents the end product from being marketed or labeled as vegan approved.”
Do not therefore believe that all wines are vegan. They are not.
Animal Products Sometimes Used in Winemaking:
Isinglass (from fish bladders)
Gelatin (from boiled cow or pig body parts)
Albumin (egg whites)
Casein (animal milk protein)
Fortunately, many winemakers use either vegan fining ingredients, or they skip the fining practice entirely by giving the wine some time to settle before decanting it into bottles.
Annoyingly, winemakers do not disclose fining ingredients on the label. But luckily, you can use the Internet to look up the status of most of the top brands. We are labelling the wines on our site which are vegan , however this is an on-going process. If in doubt about a Vegan Wine you can always email the vineyard and ask. Producers often change their processes without giving the market any notice.
One of the most popular vegan wines producers in Australia is Yalumba. Their whole range is vegan, and this process has been used for many years. Other producers have recently stopped using animal products, however some of their older vintages may contain non vegan elements, and care should be taken to identify these wines.
Yalumba wines are available on the website and you can see our range by clicking here