Image courtesy of boozenews.com

Surely Wine is just grapes, right? Oh dear, how we have been duped over the years. Unfortunately not. During the wine making process, the liquid is filtered through “fining agents” to remove the protein, yeast and other nasties. These fining agents can come in the form of bone marrow, fish bladders and gelatine among other delights. So some wines are not even vegetarian!

The good news is that there are many non-animal derived fining agents meaning that finding a great vegan wine is getting easier.

The website vegan wines online is a great resource and they also have an online shop.  http://veganwinesonline.co.uk

Another good tool when you’re out and about is the ibarnivore.com app. Just type in the brand name of the wine (or any other alcoholic beverage) you are looking at and it immediately tells you whether contains animal products. Unfortunately, although this is an extensive list, not all wines are listed but this is a good first stop. http://www.barnivore.com

Supermarkets are getting slightly better at vegan friendly labelling but it’s still a bit of a minefield.  Here’s some picks from the UK’s leading stores:

Marks and Spencer 

Not easy to find but product is labelled individually.

Le Charme Sauvignon Blanc

Pinot Grigio Terre Siciliane

Lock Keeper’s Reserve Shiraz

Prosecco

http://www.marksandspencer.com/l/food-and-wine/wine-shop/wine-beer-and-spirits

Tesco

Not the best online system as not many of the wines are labelled vegan even if they are. Best bet is to check against this list. http://realfood.tesco.com/media/docs/vegan-list-march-2014-2a5b40bb-0c52-439d-b9ef-8ee908fb0665-0.pdf

Tesco Finest Douro

Tesco Finest Sauvignon Blanc Furmint

Tesco Finest Premier Cru Champagne

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/browse/default.aspx?N=4294792557&Ne=4294793660

Ocado 

Here, you can actually search for “vegan wines” and an extensive selection appears. Magical!

Heidsieck Monopole Blue Top Brut NV

Pommery Brut Royal NV Champagne

Terreo Malbec

Pouilly Fume Domaine de Bouchot

https://www.ocado.com/webshop/getSearchProducts.do?clearTabs=yes&isFreshSearch=true&chosenSuggestionPosition=&entry=vegan+wine

Majestic Wine 

Another good search facility using the term ‘vegan’ and approximately 42 varieties to choose from.

Nicolas Feuillatte NV Champagne

Saint Clair Estate Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2015 Marlborough

Prosecco La Marca Cuvée NV DOCG

L’instant Truffier Malbec 2014 Rigal, Comté Tolosan

https://www.majestic.co.uk/vegan-wine

I would love to know you you’re favourite vegan wines.

Thanks for reading.

London Vegan Bird.

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