INDUSTRY TALK – PLANT-BASED ALTERNATIVES
Defining and certifying vegan wine A long time has passed since the first bottle of wine was produced back in 1659 in what was to become Cape Town, South Africa. Now, one of the countries with the most sought-after wine regions in the world, our wines are truly a mix of Old World techniques and New World technology. Director of Proveg South Africa, Donovan Will explains how the South African wine industry is keeping up with the modern consumer and ethical demands influenced by the plant-based movement.
T
oday, as the plant-based movement
stabilise a wine”, whereas a fining agent is
gains increasing momentum and the
“one of a range of special materials added
demand for product transparency,
Donovan Will, Director of ProVeg SA
to the juice to coagulate or absorb, and
(fibre from crustacean shells), egg albumen
and certification grows ever stronger, no
quickly precipitate the particles suspended
(protein derived from egg whites), fish oil,
corner of the food and drink industry is left
in the juice”.
gelatin (commonly derived from collagen
unscrutinised. Consumers, today, enjoy their
In effect, the fining agent acts like a
taken from animal body parts – bovine, fish
greatest level of influence, as of yet, and
magnet: unwanted haze-inducing molecules
or pork), and isinglass (gelatin from fish
have a stronger interest in what a product
coagulate around the fining agent, forming
bladder membranes).
contains and how it is manufactured than
larger particles that can easily be filtered
ever before.
out. Common practice is to remove the fining
WHAT MAKES WINE VEGAN THEN?
agents along with the unwanted particles
Several winemakers are opting to move
WHY MANY WINES ARE NOT VEGAN
before the final product is bottled, but
away from animal-derived fining agents and
There are several reasons a wine may not
residual fining agents may still be present in
replace them with natural fining agents
be vegan-friendly - from pesticide use on
the final wine product.
like bentonite clay, carbon (charcoal) and
the vineyard and how the soil is treated, to
Not all wines are fined and most young
silica. Globally, many nations are declaring
additives and preservatives and even the
wines self-stabilise and self-fine with time,
animal-derived fining agents as allergic
bottling and labelling of the finished product.
but winemakers choose to use them for
substances and must, by law, declare the use
a variety of reasons: it saves them and
of such agents on their labels if it is above
often hazy because they contain tiny
the consumer money and time, it clarifies
a detectable level. Vegan wine is, therefore,
molecules such as proteins, tartrates,
the wine and can be used to correct
either natural wine that has not been fined
tannins, phenolics and other organic
imperfection or fine-tune the taste of a wine.
or wine that has been fined using substances
During winemaking, several wines are
particles. These can be removed before
There is a wide variety of fining agents
that are vegan-friendly.
or after fermentation when filtered
available in the winemaking industry, most
through substances called ‘fining agents’.
commonly derived from animals. According
Veganwines.com explains that fining is a
to FactsSA, popular animal-derived fining
WHAT IS NEEDED TO LABEL A WINE AS VEGAN?
winemaking process that aims to “clarify and
agents include casein (milk protein), chitin
The labelling of wine as “vegan” or “vegan-
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April 2022 | FOOD RE VIEW
