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Sunday, December 24, 2006

Vegan Wine List

Trying to find vegan wine is well, trying. I have started making my own list by emailing vineyards that are common in liquor stores in my area and by searching the web. Here is my list which I will keep adding to and revising. Email responses are in the extended entry.

Rosenblum
Cline (Reds are vegan, not sure about white) *
Bonterra (White only) *
Frey (All)
Fetzer (White Wines are vegan)
Yellow Tail (Reds are vegan, Whites are not)
Beringer (White)
Thumbprint Cellars *
Louis Jadot Beaujalais Village
Penfolds Clare Valley Cabernet Merlot Shiraz *
Penfolds Clare Valley Chardonnay *

NOT VEGAN:
BonnyDoon *
Fat Bastard *
Bogle *

------- Notes ------

Bonterra:

Dear Kristin,

Thank you for visiting our web site and for writing. We sincerely appreciate your interest in Bonterra Wines.

We use egg whites in the fining process of our red wines. However, our white wines are free of any animal products and are vegetarian and vegan friendly.

Ages ago, it was discovered that egg whites added to wine would aid in removing unwanted tannins. This 'tannin fining' process is used to improve the flavor of red wines by limiting the astringency caused by the tannins. The egg whites settle to the bottom and are then filtered out. All residue of the egg whites is removed from the wine.

Thanks again for writing.

Best regards,

Elaine
Bonterra Vineyards
Wines of Distinction

------------
Penfolds:

Dear Kristin,

Thank you for taking the time to contact Penfolds Wines.

Penfolds produces two completely organic wines. These are the Penfolds
Clare Valley Chardonnay and the Penfolds Clare Valley Cabernet Merlot
Shiraz. These are available in Australia through the Penfolds cellar
door and are widely available in the UK.

Penfolds other wines are made with the regular winemaking process and
this includes the process called fining & filtration. During fining
small amounts of protein elements are added to the wine and whilst they
are removed from the wine during racking and filtrations some traces of
these elements may remain. The amount that remains in the wine is so
small that it is measured in parts per million. There are many fining
agents used however only a few are made from animal products so you will
need to check the labels on wines to check which contain animal
products. The agents containing animal products are:

- Fish products - Isinlgass
- Milk products - Casein
- Egg products - Albumen
- Animal products - Gelatin

I hope this is of some assistance to you.

Kind Regards,

Kiel Smith
Consumer Relations Coordinator (Australia)
Penfolds Wines

--------------
Bonny Doon:

Thanks for your interest in our wines!

Even though we try to be as ethical as viticultually possible, our wines
are for the most part not vegan.

Some of our red wines may be vegan as we normally do not filter or fine
our reds. However, there are instances when we use either skim milk or
egg whites as fining agents to remove microscopic particles that could
cloud the wines. But to be on the safe side, our wines overall cannot be
guaranteed vegan.

Please let me know if you need any more information.

Cheers,

Patrice Riley
Office Assistant
Bonny Doon Vineyard
PO Box 8376
Santa Cruz, CA 95061
831-425-6740 (Phone)
831-425-3856 (Fax)

--------------
Fat Bastard

Thank you for your Fat bastard inquiry.
Our wines are fined with egg whites, so they are not vegan.
Kind regards,
H. Wallace
Click Wine Group
Seattle, WA

---------------
Rosenblum

From: kane@rosenblumcellars.com
Subject: Vegan
Date: December 26, 2006 1:06:19 PM EST
To: kristin
Reply-To: kane@rosenblumcellars.com

None of our wines are have been fined.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

--------------
From: Kelly@RosenblumCellars.com
Subject: RE: Vegan wine?
Date: December 26, 2006 1:11:59 PM EST
To: kristin

Yes, our wines are vegan.

--------------------------------

Cline

Hi Kristin - I do not "fine" the wines using any animal products. We
manage the fermentation such that the wines are not overly tannic when
produced.

Best regards,
Charles Tsegeletos
Winemaker
Cline Cellars

-----------------------------

Thumbprint Cellars

Hi Kristin,
Thank you for your interest in Thumbprint Wines. All of our wines are vegan. In fact, very few of our wines are filtered or fined at all; that just removes the good flavor!
If any of our wines are fined, betanite, a diatanaceous earth, is used.
Hope that answers your question; if you would like to order wine or become a wine club member, feel free to emai this address or call the tasting room at 707-433-2393.
Have a Happy New Year!
Byron

----------------------------

Bogle

Thank you for your email. Bogle winemakers use several products in the
production of our wines, including gelatin and egg whites. These are
classic and standard materials used in the making of most wines in
California today.

Hope this information is helpful to you.
Best wishes,

Jody Bogle VanDePol
Customer Relations/Wine Club/Export

4 comments:

  1. Hey I live on the central coast of Ca in the heart of wine country and I thought I could share the findings of my struggle for finding vegan wine. Also look for the key words unfined and unfiltered on the bottle unfined meaning that no fining agents like egg albumen have been used. also biodynamic wines use gravity to filter their wines, but you should always double check
    Caprone winery- all
    Bella luna- all
    Peachy canyon-incredible red and westside
    tablas creek- syrah
    Brochelle-pasozin
    Eagle Castle- all

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks. I approved your comment. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi,
    Sorry,my.spacebar.isn't.working.
    Beringer.wines.also.emailed.me.that.they.were.fine.for.vegans.but.emailed.others.that.they.do.use.animal.products.to.fine.their.wines.and.cannot.guarantee.white.or.red.
    So,I.would.not.drink.them.
    They.were.actually.my.favorite.wine.before.this,so.I.was.really.bummed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My friend told me about your blog.... it's bookmarked now

    ReplyDelete