Can Wines be Vegan Friendly?

In a word ‘yes’.

The core focus is around (1) how the wine is fined / clarified and (2) does that process take place with an animal-based product? The existence of unfined wines is nothing new but in the main most wines will be clarified to some extent.

The most commonly used fining products include:

• Casein (a milk protein)
• Albumin (egg whites)
• Gelatin (animal protein)
• Isinglass (fish bladder protein)

Fining with casein and albumin is usually acceptable by most vegetarians but all four are off limits for vegans because tiny traces of the fining agent may be absorbed into the wine during the fining process.

But there are vegan friendly alternatives. These include:

• Bentonite: a clay-based agent
• Activated charcoal