Wine is way more than a glass of colourful drink served along with dinner to the guests. From girl’s night to spending a good quality time with your partner, wine always win over almost everything. Many wine lovers think, “home is where the wine is”. Well, no offence to them, but their love for wine made them believe it.
According to oenophilists (wine lovers), all the wines are not vegan. Globally, millions of people are turning vegan and this present pandemic also made people think deeply about their diet. If you are turning vegan or already turned vegan, doesn’t mean you have to compromise on having wine. Some of the good quality wines are vegan too.
Egg whites is used in most of the wines, so it’s not vegan. Casein is another component used during wine making, which is a type of protein found in cow milk. Fish oil and gelatine are also used in wine making. Some wine brands also use isinglass, a form of gelatine from fish bladder membranes. So I guess now you have a deep idea that what all ingredients are being used to make wines.
So now you must be thinking, what all ingredients should contain in a bottle of vegan wine? Or how should you identify as vegan wine? Animal protein are replaced by pea gelatine, silica gel, activated charcoal and bentonite clay. All of these ingredients are natural and extracted from plants and Mother Nature, so there’s no risk of consuming animal protein.
GlobalData reviewed that the percentage of vegan wine consumption went from 1% in 2014 to 6% in 2017. According to Forbes, FDA and USDA do not allow the wine makers to list down all the ingredients honestly, that’s why it’s difficult for the vegans to identify vegan wines. Some brands use “BevVeg” sticker on their wine bottles, which can help you to understand that the wine is vegan. BevVeg has a vegan certification. Attorney of BevVeg, Carissa Kranz says that, no taste difference has been documented till date. The traditional wine made with animal products and the vegan wine has no difference in taste as of now.