The winery claims its grapes aren’t touched by animal-based fertilizers or sprays. Pure and vibrant, this white comes with orange blossom aromas and tangy citrus and herbal flavors. This non-vintage cuvée is bold and intense, with aromas of golden delicious apples and fresh croissants.Ģ019 Babich Headwaters Organic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc This revived Champagne house, noted for such quirky innovations as aging Champagnes 60 meters below sea level and maturing wine in a barrel lined with gold, has a long biodynamic history. Roasted beets or grilled cabbage both taste great with red wines.

Texture and cooking methods are all-important. Since vegan food doesn’t include butter or animal fat, wines with less oak, alcohol, and tannin tend to match best. Mushroom risotto works just as well with a vegan pinot noir as with a conventional one. You don’t have to learn a new set of rules to match vegan wine and food. When consumers request a vegan wine, sommeliers steer guests to regions and producers that don’t fine their wines. Wine director Watson Brown says his goal is not to adjust the wine program but to offer the highest quality wines possible he says many are inherently vegan but not necessarily labeled so. New York’s Eleven Madison Park, which drew wide attention for the plant-based menu it debuted in June, doesn’t quite describe itself as “vegan.” The wine list, which features several Bordeaux châteaux that fine with egg whites, such as Château d’Armailhac, is decidedly not vegan.

Gautier Soho in London, which transitioned to an all-vegan menu in June, offers only vegan wines. When in doubt, consult a winery’s website or call it for further information.Ī few restaurants are beginning to identify vegan-friendly wines on their lists with some sort of symbol (such as a green leaf, or sometimes just the letters V or Veg).

Still, the U.S.’s first all-vegan wine subscription club and online wine shop,, claims to ensure that its winemakers aren’t using any animal by-products, from soil to bottle. Querciabella’s completely animal-free, vineyard-to-glass approach isn’t the norm for wineries with vegan certification. Such traditional biodynamic practices, such as burying a cow horn filled with manure, are considered non-vegan. But it does certify producers that fertilize vines with animal manure, something that those embracing a wider vegan philosophy than just dietary choices object to. The European Vegetarian Union doesn’t give its V-label to bottled wines sealed with beeswax. The definition of vegan wine is blurry, with certification covering only what happens to wines after the grapes have been harvested. Larry Stone, co-founder of Lingua Franca, says the top Oregon winery did it “because it’s important to so many people to verify our wines have no animal by-products.” (All those in the list below are certified.)īut there’s a big catch to all this. Increasing interest from wine drinkers has inspired wineries to certify their wines as vegan, entitling them to put an official trademark on their back labels. The Barnivore Vegan Alcohol Directory lists more than 5,000, but it isn’t always up to date. Helpfully, major retailers in the U.K., like Bibendum, now publish the names of these vegan wines online. One hint: If the front or back label says the wine is unfined, it’s vegan friendly-if you define vegan as simply not introducing animal products into the wine itself. Just because a wine is organic, biodynamic, natural, or kosher doesn’t mean it’s also vegan. requires ingredients or winemaking processes to be listed on labels. But it’s hard to identify which wines use what, since neither the EU nor the U.S. Today, animal-free alternatives, such as bentonite, a form of clay, are more commonly used. The agents are removed before bottling, but their use is still a vegan no-no. Some winemakers still use traditional animal-derived “fining” agents such as egg whites, gelatin, or casein (derived from milk) to clarify the liquid, reduce bitterness, or bind and extract excess tannins in red wines, leaving behind softer ones.

Vegan gelatin leaves