Vegetarian Wines and Vegan Wines

Vegetarianism and Veganism have been on the rise in recent years. With 7.2 million British adults reportedly following a vegetarian diet from 2021 and the number of UK Vegans growing 40% from 2020 to 2021. Statistics suggest vegans and vegetarians will make up a quarter of the British population by 2025.

But of course being vegetarian and certainly being vegan doesn't just include removing your typical foodstuffs such as meat, eggs and dairy. It extends to everything you consume, including wine.  The rise in popularity of following a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle has been mirrored in a growth in popularity of vegan wine and vegetarian wine.  Major supermarkets such as M&S and Aldi have even come out and made pledges for their whole wine collection to be vegan within the next 2 years.

What makes wine Vegetarian?

You may be confused as to why or how a wine wouldn't be vegetarian. After all its made from grapes grown in soil right? Well of course, but much like with organic wines, it comes down to the process of growing the producing the wine that determines if it is vegetarian or not.

The main process which can be non-vegetarian in wine production is the fining process. This is where substances are added to the wine to remove compounds such as sulphides or copper ions which can influence the taste. These substances can be derived from fish, milk and eggs and therefore not always suitable for vegetarians.

There are alternatives which are vegetarian friendly and so if used, give a wine a vegetarian classification.

What makes wine Vegan?

Much as with making a wine vegetarian, whether or not it is vegan friendly comes down to the fining process. But as the vegan diet is more restricted, it would also bring in any milk or egg based fining agents which can also be used.

Below are our range of wines which are vegetarian or vegan. Within the descriptions on each individual wine page you will see notes saying which category each fall into.