Is wine vegan?

[tellybear]

I am eating a vegan diet for 2 weeks as I don't think I can do the entire Veganuary.

Important question. Is wine vegan?

No, most is not (something to do with fish being used in the process to make it) But you can buy vegan wine in supermarkets or specialist wine shops.

Waitrose do it (look for the vegan and veggie signs) on the shelves. Sometimes it's organic and sulphite\ nitrate free too, costs more but it's so delicious and doesn't leave a hangover! I only drink one glass though!

Waitress have a special blue label which is all vegan- tastes pretty good too.

If you make wine through simply fermenting grape juice you will get a cloudy final product. Commercially produced wines are always "fined" to remove this cloudiness. A variety of different materials can be used for this process with very little difference in the taste of the final product. One of the cheapest options is isinglass - basically the fish equivalent of gelatine. Vegan wines can and do use different non-animal materials to achieve the same effect.

Tbh if you are on doing the vegan thing for 2 weeks I wouldn't bother being purist about wine though. Obviously if you were actually becoming a vegan for ethical reasons then it would be appropriate to restrict which alcohol options you have too.

Some is, it’s pretty easy to check on google.

You can check alcohol here - www.barnivore.com

Barnivore is amazing. Oddbins are a great for labelling all their wines that are vegan and the staff know all about it.

Co-op and Sainbos both label their own brand wines that are vegan, they make it really easy.