Given that wine is a product of grapes and yeast, some may assume that all wines are appropriate for vegans. However, that is not always the case.
A wine can be called vegan when it is made without any contact with or addition of a product of animal origin.
Fining stage
Animal products or ‘agents’ can be used in the process of wine production at the ‘fining stage’.
Fining stage comes after filtration stage. Fining is necessary if the wine manufacturer observes some soluble substances and wants them removed. The process of fining removes soluble substances, phenols, and proteins by converting them into larger molecules that can be filtered out of the wine.
Another reason can be to remove hard tannins by making them sink to the bottom of the barrel when getting in contact with the molecules of the agents.
Non – vegan agents include egg whites, casein, gelatin, and chitosan.
Vegan – friendly agents
To make Vegan wine alternative agents for the same processes are used. These include carbon, bentonite clay, limestone, kaolin clay, plant casein, silica gel, and vegetable plaques. All of these are Vegan.
Where to find Vegan wines?
Vegan wines are becoming more popular and more options get available from Italian wine producers. Explore our Italian vegan wine selection following this link.
