drinks.
CHEERS!
Susy Atkins chooses wines free of animal products and grown-up no-alcohol drinks
The expert guide toÉ VEGAN WINE
It’s a question I’m often asked: how can wine be anything BUT vegan, when it’s simply made from fermented grape juice? The issue arises when a wine is clarified (so it isn’t cloudy) and stabilised (so it doesn’t evolve in flavour) after fermentation. This involves adding a fining agent, which clings to any unwanted miniscule particles in the wine so they can be removed. Those agents range from vegan-friendly bentonite clay to animal products such as egg white, gelatine, casein (milk protein) and isinglass (derived from fish). Although these substances are taken out after doing their job, tiny amounts can remain in the finished wine - and, of course, vegans and vegetarians generally object to their use in the first place