Vegan wine

Vegan wine is wine made without animal products. As such it can be part of a vegan diet. While wine is essentially made from grapes, on occasion animal products are used in small amounts in the production process. Wineries might use animal-derived products as finings. To remove proteins, yeasts, and other organic particles which are in suspension during the making of the wine, a fining agent is added to the top of the vat. As it sinks down, the particles adhere to the agent, and are carried out of suspension. None of the fining agent remains in the finished product sold in the bottle, and not all wines are fined. All Kosher wines are vegan.

Examples of animal products used as finings are gelatin, isinglass, chitosan, casein and egg albumen. Bull's blood is also used in some Mediterranean countries but is not allowed in the U.S. or France.

As an alternative to the animal products Bentonite, a natural, inert clay powder, can be used to clarify the wine. There are even some very patient vintners who let the wine's sediments settle naturally. Winemakers are not required to put on their label which clarifier is used, since it is removed from the final product. However, some wine makers will boast on the wine label that their wine is unfiltered, because some wine connoisseurs prefer wine to be unfiltered.

ee also

* Glossary of wine terms
* The South African Wine Initiative
* Wine

Notes and references

Further reading

* [http://www.platteronline.com John Platter South African Wine Guide]

External links

* [http://vegans.frommars.org/wine/ Vegan Wine Guide]
* [http://www.veggiewines.co.uk Vegan & Vegetarian Wine & Beer Guide]
* [http://barnivore.com/ Barnivore.com – Vegan Alcohol Directory]