Vegan & Vegetarian Friendly Wines

One of the common issues I have when I am at a cocktail is that after becoming vegetarian I did not drink wine. I ran into a few occasions where people who supposedly where wine “experts” did not understand the full process of wine creation.

I guess you can find so called experts everywhere. It was very uncomfortable on one occasion where that so called expert was my best friend’s boss and she clearly states I did not know anything of the wine process. I guess being a wine consumer (when she made that statement she was on her second bottle) does not necessarily make you an expert.

I found this information on vegans.frommars.org Frequently Asked Questions section on the process of wine and why it is not adequate for vegans and vegetarians:

• Most winemakers choose to clarify and stabilise their wines before they are bottled by using a practice known as fining. There are sound reasons for doing this: fining a wine not only makes a wine look clear, it also lowers the risk that it will take on unwanted flavours and aromas in the bottle before it is opened.
• Though bull’s blood, a traditional fining agent, was banned by the EU after the BSE crisis, a number of animal-derived products are still permitted for the production of wine sold in Europe. Among the most prevalent are isinglass (fish bladders), gelatin, casein (milk protein) and albumen (egg whites).

So for those of you that are like me and vegetarian this list vegan wines (http://vegans.frommars.org/wine/) might be of help when choosing a wine.

Another great resource to verify if barnivore.com which serves as your vegan wine and beer guide.

What other wines do you recommend that are vegan and/or vegetarian friendly?

Veggie Pic Above: Some rights reserved by derekGavey