When our family moved to Virginia in 2014 I had no idea that I'd be living in wine country. Always a fan of wine but certainly no connoisseur, I visited a couple of vineyards and even entertained the thought of taking a virtual around-the-world trip--the only kind I could afford--by sampling imported wines from different countries. Starting alphabetically I got as far as Australia. Then I became a vegan.
Did you know that not all wines are vegan? As I was contemplating buying a bottle of wine one Friday night, Joy asked me if wine is vegan and I told her that the thought never occurred to me that something made from grapes would be anything but. However, as I am prone to do with many things in life, I Googled her question and found that there are in fact non-vegan wines. Let me explain.
Not all wines are produced the same. Some wines -- the non-vegan variety -- are actually processed using animal-derived fining agents, which are "used to remove protein, yeast, cloudiness, “off” flavors and colorings, and other organic particles. Popular animal-derived fining agents used in the production of wine include blood and bone marrow, casein (milk protein), chitin (fiber from crustacean shells), egg albumen (derived from egg whites), fish oil, gelatin (protein from boiling animal parts), and isinglass (gelatin from fish bladder membranes)."
(Source: http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/is-wine-vegan/ ).
Who knew? Right?
Fortunately there are resources to help us vegans choose wines that are vegan-friendly. One of my favorites is www.barnivore.com.
Drink responsibly and now that you know, drink compassionately...for the animals.
Cheers!
Dee Dee
Copyright 2016 by Dee Dee Wike and Joy Wike. All rights reserved. www.feelingveggiegood.com
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