Wanda Haynes,
Certified Sommelier
Vegans avoid all meat, dairy, eggs, wool, feathers, leather, fur, honey, seafood, fish, and animal-derived materials.
This includes products tested on animals, and places that use animals for entertainment. The wine they drink must foster their diet and beliefs.
The term “fining” is a process of adding substances to rid the wine of solids to make it clear.
It is often traditional fining agents that can make a wine unsuitable for vegans.
Gelatin, fiber of crustation shells, and fish oils can be used to refine wine.
Egg whites or casein which is a protein in dairy milk can be used to remove tiny particles in a wine that cannot be removed by traditional filtration.
Animal products used in wine production may include beeswax, used to seal bottles, and agglomerated corks is a milk-based glue. These items aren’t on the wine label and the USA or Europe aren’t currently required to list them.
What is a vegan wine?
Vegan wine is a style of wine that does not involve the use of animal-derived products or by-products during the winemaking process.
Carbon, bentonite clay, limestone, kaolin clay, plant casein, silica gel, and vegetable plaques are appropriate in fining vegan wine.
Ways to know if a wine is vegan.
*Look closely for a ‘Certified Vegan’ label.
*Read for animal-derived ingredients.
*Go to the producer’s website or social media