Vegan Wines - Miscellaneous

I have relied in the past, on Barnivore to confirm whether a wine is vegan or not, but I have decided to compile my own vegan wine list.   It is quite a task finding out what finings are used, whether it be isinglass, eggs, bentonite clay or if the wines are left to clarify naturally.
I have written full reviews of some of the vineyards and wineries I have checked out and the rest I will list here.

The vibe I am getting is how proud wine makers are of their wine, production methods and their environmental and sustainability footprint, working hand in hand with nature and these are companies I like to support.   I am finding it very rewarding though, in the sense that more wines are vegan than you would think and the more people ask about fining processes, hopefully the less animal products will be used.

Two new wines to try are Sierra Grande and Les Oliviers both purchased from Booths and both vegan friendly.

Lawson Dry Hills

Lawson Dry Hills Wines are based in Marlborough, New Zealand and many of their wines are fined using isinglass, eggs and milk casein.   However they confirmed that their Gewurtztraminer and Pinot Gris are both unfined and therefore contain no animal products.

Prinz Von Hessen

Prinz Von Hessen are based in Germany and again are wines I have never tried, so I emailed to ask if they were vegan friendly and received a lovely email from Andrea Demmer who said:

We do not use isinglass or eggs to fine our wines, I assume your question was about bentonite which we do use to fine our wines.  Bentonite is not of vegetable origin but of mineral origin.

A German wine would not be my first choice, when perusing a wine list, I suppose you stick with what you know, which is actually rather boring so will look for their wines in future.

Domaine Gavoty

Domaine Gavoty is one of the oldest estates in Provence, run by the same family since 1806, which is extremely rare these days.   Roselyne Gavoty was very helpful in her reply, to my email about their vegan credentials.

Of course we use substances (incoming) derived from vegetable or mineral, thank you for your interest in our wines

So another one to add to the long list of "to try wines"....happy days!

Domaine Ott

Domaine Ott is another old estate in Provence, dating back to 1896 who fully respect nature, without using chemicals or intensive techniques.   Their wines are vegan friendly as confirmed by Christophe Bernard, as they use absorbant clay, known in the trade as bentonite.   I have never seen their wines on any list that I recall, but I will certainly be looking out for them in future.

Hugel

The Hugel family have wine growing ancestors dating back to 1639 and their wines are a big favourite so I am always drawn to them, on any wine list.   I know they are vegan, but thought I would email anyway, to see what response I got and as I have found, wine makers are more than happy to answer any questions.  I had a wonderful email from David Ling even though they were closed for their summer holidays:

We are pleased to confirm that Hugel wines are not fined with any animal products (egg, isinglass etc).   If you are ever in the region, please let us know in advance, as it would be a pleasure to give you a cellar tour and tasting, so you can see for yourself what is behind the yellow label.

Hugel will continue to be one of my favourites and I hope to be sampling another bottle very very soon.

Bele Casel

Bele Casel are a true family business, started over forty years ago, now headed up by son Luca Ferraro and they make fantastic Prosecco, which is my favourite.   

I contacted Luca via Twitter, who confirmed that although they were not vegan or organic certified, their Prosecco is vegan and organic, purely by its production method.   I have drunk a good number of bottles, as it is available at Booths and excellent value for money, in fact I prefer it to champagne.   I love their commitment and desire to make fabulous wine and I look forward to drinking many more bottles in the future.