Vegetarian

The reason that all wines are not vegan or even vegetarian-friendly has to do with how the wine is clarified and a process called 'fining'. All young wines are hazy and contain tiny molecules such as proteins, tartrates, tannins and phenolics. These are all natural, and in no way harmful. However, thanks to something in our monkey brains that tells us not to drink cloudy water, most people tend to like their wines to be clear.

Traditionally the most commonly used fining agents were gelatin (animal protein) and isinglass (fish bladder protein). Wines that are suitable for vegetarians but not vegans might be fined with casein (a protein found in milk), albumin (egg whites.) None of these additives to the wine, as they are filtered out along with the haze molecules. All four fining agents are off limits for vegans because tiny traces of them may be absorbed into the wine during the fining process.

Vegan wines can be fined with clay-based products such as Bentonite or activated charcoal. Some producers allow their wines to self-clarify in their own time, and are usually labelled as such, so expect a bit of sediment at the bottom of the glass, or decant!

You'll usually find that most producers tend to make a wine vegan rather than vegetarian. Further research required but usually it's to do with the price of raw materials.