As you might know, the plant-based trend is booming worldwide, with sales for vegan products growing explosively in the latest years. This growth is so massive that in the UK, studies by the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s predict that by 2025, 25% of the country’s population will be vegan or vegetarian. Although there are no definitive studies on the percentage of vegans in the world, all reports show sustained growth overtime for this lifestyle.

The Vegan lifestyle is becoming more and more attractive for a diverse and large amount of people for different reasons. For example, eco-consciousness, religious principles, health reasons, economic reasons, disagreement with the mistreatment and exploitation of animals, or just because some people do not like to eat animal meat are some of the motivators that make people look for this kind of diet.

But you might ask yourself: what is vegan wine? Isn’t all wine vegan as it is only made by fermented grapes? While the wine itself is completely fruit-based, the production techniques used in the winery can turn a vegan-friendly wine into one that vegans would want to avoid.

Fermentation is the winemaking process where the grapes’ natural sugars are converted into alcohol. The fruit juice goes into a fermentation tank where yeast grows; the yeast triggers the reaction in the sugar, resulting in wine at its end. At this point, molecules can appear in the wine, causing it to be hazy in appearance. To get their wines to be crystal clear, winemakers need to filter the wines. This process helps to clarify the liquid, reduce bitterness, and extract excess tannins in red wines, leaving behind softer ones, ready to be bottled. Some winemakers still use traditional animal-derived “fining” agents such as egg whites, gelatin, or casein (derived from milk). Even if these agents are removed before bottling, their use is still not allowed by vegans.