Most would assume that wine is vegan since it’s just liquid grapes, but you might be surprised at what is sometimes added to wine to help in the winemaking process.

When wines are being made, they are often cloudy because of the residue and sediment from the grapes. These do naturally drop out, but it takes time. To speed the process up, wine makers use fining agents to clarify the wine and take away these solids quickly. These fining agents are animal derived like egg white, milk powder, isinglass (gelatine from fish bladder) or fish oil - which is why you often see “may contain traces of egg white or fish products” on the back of labels.

Don’t worry! These are all used in minute amounts and don’t affect flavour however these agents means that the wine isn’t vegan or vegetarian. However, in more recent years, winemakers have developed alternatives such as Bentonite (Clay), Limestone powder or silica gel, to make their wines vegan and vegetarian friendly!

Looking for some vegan or vegetarian wines? Here’s some of our top recommendations!

Bass Line Shiraz

Black Estate Treble Pinot Noir

Black Estate Young Vines Chardonnay

Crittenden Estate Peninsula Pinot Gris

LS Merchants Petit Verdot

LS Merchants Hoi Polloi Cabernet Malbec

MAAN Fiano

Warramunda LivZak Chardonnay

Yelland And Papps Shiraz