Do You Know if Your Wine is Vegan?

This is usually not something that pops into your head when purchasing wine, but not all wine is vegan. Many wines are processed with non-vegan clarifying agents like casein (a milk protein), albumin (egg whites), gelatin (animal protein) and isinglass (fish bladder protein) for fining (clarifying) or finishing the wine. These are not additives to the wine as they are precipitated out. They bind onto the proteins dissolved in the wine and cause them to collect at the bottom of the tank and are then filtered out, which results in crystal clear wine. Vegan wines are made without animal products, either by bottling the wine unfined and unfiltered or using a non-animal fining product. Bentonite, a form of clay or pea protein can be used to achieve the same clarification in wine as nonvegan methods. Filtering with sterile filters or using a crossflow filter can further clarify wines. There are also an increasing number of winemakers who believe in a more minimal intervention method, leaving the wines in the most natural state possible. Wines are made without removing or adding anything with the belief that fining may remove some of the uniqueness. Blue Grouse Winery has been producing vegan wines for the past 5+ years using a bentonite method to fine and Do you know if your wine is Vegan? then cross-flow filtering our wines to finish. Almost every wine we carry is vegan and if you are unsure, our tasting room team can answer your questions. If you want to purchase our vegan wines at your favourite private liquor store, look for a “V” on the back of a Blue Grouse wine label. Try a few of our favorite pairings with Blue Grouse Wines and Pickles Pantry vegan offerings. Walnut Lentil Pate and Quill Pinot Noir Beet Cashew Dip and Quill Rose Chili Carrot Hummus with Estate Bacchus If you interested in more vegan alcohol offerings, check out www.barnivore. com to find out if your favourite wine, beer, liquor, or cider is listed. Jenny Garlini Admin, Sales and Marketing at Blue Grouse Winery