So is all wine vegan? In a nutshell, no! It all comes down to how it is processed, which can mean the wine is not considered vegan or even vegetarian in some cases.
Wine itself is vegan; grapes plus yeast and time gives us yummy wine. But when a wine is made, protein, yeast and other particles make cloudy sediment; it is essential to remove this for a perfectly clear wine which we all want to drink. This sediment will just settle out if given enough time but for commercial winemakers time is money; so they filter.
For this, often animal-derived agents such as blood, bone marrow, egg whites, gelatine and milk protein are used. Even fibre from crustacean shells and fish bladders are utilised in the filtering process! However, there are filters that are considered vegan such as carbon, limestone and vegetable plaques, which many winemakers always have or are now embracing.
Annoyingly, winemakers do not disclose filtering ingredients on the label. To make life easier for our “Vegan Warriors” out there, we have put a handy official Vegan logo on all our products which make the grade. You can feel confident that these wines are 100% vegan and they are some truly excellent wines. Simply look for the vegan logo and give them a try; you will find that the vast majority of our wines are in fact vegan.
The whole Torreon range is fully vegan and boasts an excellent selection of reds and whites, a single rose to fit all tastes. Our particular favourite is the vegan Torreon Reserva Privada Cabernet Sauvignon, which is smooth and mature with notes of chocolate. It apparently would age well in the bottle, but we’ve never managed to keep one long enough for that!
As always, if you want more advice about any wine or specifically vegan wine, simply pop into the shop, give us a call, or contact us online.
