UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE: Wait, so not all wines are vegan? Why?
Freshly fermented wine may contain some particles. The grapes have to be clarified through a process called ‘fining’ to remove the fragments. It’s during this fining procedure that many wines can become unsuitable for vegans.
ALISON STEPHENSON: Veganism has soared in popularity around the world, in fact Australia is already at the forefront of the shift towards plant-based eating, ranked as the second most popular nation in the world for vegans, so it’s not a surprise that the demand for vegan wines is increasing along with it. Some may assume that all wines would be appropriate for vegans, and it’s completely logical to think so. It is, after all, a drink made from pressing and fermenting grapes but unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. While wine itself is fruit-based, it’s the production techniques commonly used in winery that can make wine unfriendly for vegans.
According to the team behind Angove Family Winemakers, it’s what they leave out that makes their wine vegan and Certified Organic. Tony Ingle, Chief Winemaker at Angove Family Winemakers, says that not all wines are created equal. “Many people are unaware that some wines are made using animal-derived products. Before your wine is bottled, it’s not the clean liquid you usually see when you pour yourself a glass.
Freshly fermented wine may contain some particles of proteins, tartrates, tannins and phenolics. However, wine drinkers prefer their wine to be bright and clear, thus, the grapes have to be clarified through a process called ‘fining’ to remove the fragments. It’s during this fining procedure that many wines can become unsuitable for vegans.”
Great vegan friendly wines need to be made with gentleness, care and strict adherence to organic principles to ensure the result is exactly that. “At Angove, we don’t need to use our hard pressings,” Tony says. “Hard pressings are the last bit you take when squeezing every last drop out of the grapes. When you squeeze grapes really hard, you get about 10% more juice. But the longer you press, the more bitter the flavours. You then need to use products to take those bitter flavours out.”
Typically, when a winemaker wants to remove any bitterness, the liquid is filtered through fining agents, which remove protein, yeast, and cloudiness. “Some winemakers use animal-derived fining agents, including proteins such as milk, casein, gelatine or isinglass — which is fish protein,” he says. “These proteinaceous products bind against the bitter flavours and remove them very effectively from the wine.”
Instead, Tony advised that he uses the softer, free run method. “Free run is the juice that flows from the grapes, without any pressing required. Free-run and soft-press juices and wines require only a very small amount, if any, of fining so making them vegan is quite easy for us. If we do use a fining agent, we use pea or potato products.” SOURCE…
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