May 18, 2017Drew (The Wine Wankers)

Is vegan wine bulls%&# ?

Are you a vegan?
Would you buy a vegan only wine?
Or do you think wine that is vegan is bulls%&#
[no judgement from me! 😎]

Strict vegans will love Champagne Legret , which proudly flaunts its vegan credentials – I tasted this yesterday in Stockholm, however I was in two minds. In a room full of great Champagnes, this didn’t win me over. Was it because they used vegan winemaking methods, or was it simply not as good as some of the other great wines in the room?

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Traditionally, to make a base wine clear, you need to use a fining agent that most vegans spit out their quinoa salad – things like casein (a milk protein), albumin (egg whites), gelatin (animal protein) and isinglass (fish bladder protein). They are not added to the wine, as they fall out out of the wine with the molecules that make the wine cloudy. They simply rest at the bottom of the tank/barrel, and the clear wine is racked off from the top.

An alternative fining product is a clay like substance called bentonite, or even more natural is leaving them to self-clarify and self-stabilize.

Have you got some favourite vegan wines we should be tasting.  Let us know in the comments.

28 comments

  3. If a wine uses a none vegan product to clarify it, but that product is not actually part of the finished wine, could the wine not still be considered vegan? The none vegan product would not be ingested.

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  4. And here I thought wine was just fermented grape juice. Who knew? If I was a vegan, or allergic to something used in processing, I’d be upset if I was sensitive to it. I know someone who’s allergic to tannins, for example. Thank God I’m not; I like a good dry wine, or a nice oak barrelled red.

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  8. I agree with Please Bring Me Wine, a lot of winemakers do use Bentonite and not because they want to make their wine vegan – typically I have only found out certain wines are vegan-friendly from talking to the winemakers, half of them don’t put it on the label or anything.

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  9. Why would it be bullshit? Vegans choose that lifestyle for ethical reasons, so they don’t want animal products used in the processing of their food or drink. As a vegetarian, I prefer a wine made without animal products, but I’m not so much of a purist as to insist on it. I’d love it if more winemakers advertised their wines as vegan-friendly. I doubt it has any impact whatever on the quality of the wine. Those looking for options can check out the “vegan wine, beer and liquor guide” here: http://www.barnivore.com/wine?vfilter=Vegan

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  10. Go Vegan! – Yea man, keep the junk out of your wine… Bodegas Bocopa of Spain offers Organic Wine that carries the Vegan Seal. This wine from the Domain of Origin – Alicante is wonderful and to topic “Egg” free. Your readers may be curious to know what some producers do to modify the mouth feel of a wine. Other adjuncts that enter the production process that give a glycerin based chubbiness is something to consider. If what one is seeking is true varietal integrity then yes, Vegan Matters! The only bull I’ve seen near our Vineyards are on the road to Barcelona! Learn more about Laudum Vegan Organic Vino Mediterranean visit: https://bocopacanada.com/laudum-alicante-do-certified-organic/ and keep on Wanking!!!

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    • It’s a fair point I guess. Same as with any food that vegans eat though. I guess since it’s really extremely difficult for most people to buy all their food that has been grown in a “veganic” way, they have no choice but to eat it, so it is considered vegan anyway.

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  13. I’m a strict vegan but wine is the one thing I turn a blind eye to!! I have to admit I haven’t gone out of my way to get educated about non vegan wine… eek! Thanks for the tips and i love your light hearted writing 🙂

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  14. To be honest, this is something that I didn’t pay much attention to in the past, I tried to get ones that were vegan but sometimes I just drank whatever wine was available. But I haven’t really drank in years because I’ve been pregnant/raising babies, haha. In future I want to only drink vegan wines and will make an effort to do that. I went to a vegan wine & tapas night that had all organic vegan wines, and they were delicious! And I know of some vegan wines I can buy now if I feel like some any time. 🙂 I’ve also heard that all Champagne is vegan, but not sure if that’s true? 🙂

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  15. Personally I don’t think that a producer should be encouraged to do anything else than do whatever they feel they need to to create great wines, obviously within reason, but it would be good for those who want to know if a set of standards was agreed upon for vegan wine and it could be put on the label

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  17. I live in Germany and a lot of the stores here sell wine marked as vegan. I actually found quite a few so far that were really tasty 🙂

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  21. Ugh! I am a vegan and am hating your post because I try to ignore this kind of stuff. But you are correct and lovely to inform us. I just bought a vegan wine yesterday and it’s awful so I won’t share the brand. Here’s to hoping all that fish bladder really is at the bottom of the barrel.

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  22. You’ll probably find that non-vegans drink some vegan wine in their life, you’ve got to love anything that’s accidentally vegan.
    Barnivore is a website and an app with an easy search system to find vegan alcohol. No need to turn a blind eye when the information is easily accessible and as with all wine, some are better than others.

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  23. I went Vegan about half a year ago but I have to admit, when it comes to alcohol, I have no idea what is and what is not ok to drink! I really want to try and make sure all elements of what I consume are Vegan so I shall have to do a bit more research! Thanks for the great post!
    https://philippascholz.wordpress.com/

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