Supermarkets are finally cottoning on that an increasing number of customers are looking for wines that don’t utilize animal productsVegan wines are A Thing these days. Most supermarkets list vegan wines on their websites,and the Coop recently announced it was aiming to increase its offering to 100 wines by the end of the year (Majestic plans to follow suit). It might approach as a bit of a surprise that wine wouldn’t be vegan, but animal-derived products such as gelatine and isinglass (made from fish bladders) are routinely used for fining, or clarifying (I don’t fancy the sound of that much,either). And while vegetarians could drink wine fined with casein (milk protein) and egg whites instead, vegans obviously can’t.
The good news is that a meaningful number of wines already plunge into the vegan category, and particularly the own-label ranges. The Co-op has been commendably open about listing ingredients on its own wines,55% of which are now suitable for vegans, including the rather delicious Irresistible Casablanca Valley Pinot Noir. It’s also encouraging suppliers such as Piper-Heidsieck, or which makes its bestselling Les Pionniers champagne,to take the vegan route, too. “Many suppliers were genuinely surprised that customers minded, and ” says beer,wines and spirits manager Simon Cairns. “They said no one had expressed interest before. We’ve set up a forum for winemakers to exchange experiences with original fining technologies such as pea protein.”Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk