July 2018: Vegan wines - what's it all about?

Vegan wines, what's it all about? Not everyone is aware that your standard bottle of wine is usually not vegan friendly... Why is this?

 

This is to do with a process called 'fining'. The purpose of adding a fining agent preparation to wine is to soften or reduce its astringency and/or bitterness; remove proteins which can cause haze formation; or reduce the colour of the wine. A fining agent is known as a processing aid and is not classified as an additive as they are subsequently removed. 

 

Traditionally the most commonly used fining agents were casein (a milk protein), albumin (egg whites), gelatin (animal protein) and isinglass (fish bladder protein). Wines that have these animal products used as a fining agent are not considered vegan.

 

Thankfully, there are several common fining agents that are animal-friendly and used to make vegan wine. Carbon, bentonite clay, limestone, kaolin clay, plant casein, silica gel, and vegetable plaques are all suitable alternatives.

 

Going vegan was predicted to be the biggest food trend of 2018, so naturally there has been an increase of interest in vegan wines. Ampersand are proud to have a good selection of vegan and vegetarian wines in our portfolio. New to our range is the Da Vero Italian red and white wines, as well as being animal friendly, they are also organic. These are beautiful wines that we see great potential in and at RRP of €10.95, we predict they will be very popular. Some older favourites in our portfolio include the vegan Les Volets range (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Malbec RRP €12.99) and Les Clairon (RRP €12.99).

 

Get in touch if you would like to know more or to stock these wines.

 

Credits to www.peta.org and www.thekitchn.com

 

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