Wines for vegans? Yes, it doesn’t sound as crazy when you realize that not all wine is actually suitable for vegans, even though the drink is essentially made from fermented grapes. There are many ways to produce wine and certain practices actually contain animal products. In terms of vegan wines, the key is to find wines that haven’t used animal parts during the filtration or fining process. The filtration process often uses eggs, intestines and isinglass. When these are not used, you can enjoy a completely vegan-friendly wine.
The vegan lifestyle is gaining popularity, as people begin to understand the benefits of this lifestyle. The diet is one of the best ways to a healthier lifestyle, and it isn’t any wonder you can also enjoy some quality vegan wine. Here are five benefits of having vegan wines and tips to find them.
Benefit 1: Less Harmful Chemicals
Vegan wines are usually also organic wines, which has the benefit of reducing the number of chemicals in the finished product. Organic vineyards don’t use artificial and synthetic chemicals, herbicides or pesticides when they cultivate the grapes. Nothing synthetic or artificial is added to the wine during the filtering and bottling process either. Therefore, your wine is less likely to cause you health problems — unless you drink too much, of course!
Benefit 2: Higher Levels of Resveratrol
You’ve probably heard about the studies that continuously prove a glass of red wine is good for you. The reason is the antioxidant called resveratrol, which has been found to act as an anti-aging chemical in your body. It has also been shown to protect against cancer and it can expand your lifespan. The good news for vegan wine drinkers is that organic wines tend to have higher levels of resveratrol. In fact, the organic wines can have up to 32 percent higher resveratrol levels compared to traditional wines.
Benefit 3: Lower Levels of Sulphites
Vegan wine also contains fewer sulphites. These chemicals can cause an allergic reaction in people and are often the reason some people get a headache after drinking just a single glass of wine. In vegan wines, the level of sulphites is much lower and they often do not consist any – although sulphites are a natural by-product of fermentation, so they’re not completely absent. In the vegan and organic wine process, any sulphites that still exist are part of this natural phenomenon and not added to enhance the preservation of the wine.
Benefit 4: Smaller Impact on the Environment
Did you know that it could take up to seven years to transform a traditional vineyard into an organic one? This is down to the number of chemicals traditional vineyards pop in the ground, causing damage to the ecosystem. Vegan wines don’t use artificial chemicals nor do they use animal parts at any step of the process. This means there is less impact on the environment – you don’t need to harm the local ecosystem to produce good quality wine.
Benefit 5: Fresher Taste
Since the grapes in organic and vegan wines are grown in their natural state, without additional preservatives and chemicals, the product often tastes much fresher and fruitier. The flavors are richer and more vibrant. This can also can make it easier to use the wine to enhance the flavors in your chosen foods.
How to Find Vegan Wines?
Finding vegan wine is a bit tricky, as most companies don’t have to mention if they did or did not use animal products. However, most vegans would rather go out of their way to find vegan wine, so they can sip something that hasn’t had to rely on animals.
The good news is that a lot of wine producers have understood the importance of labeling and are making it easier for you to find vegan wines by simply looking at the bottle. Virgin Wines even offers the option to search for wines with the keyword ‘vegan.’ If you use voucher codes at Virgin Wines, you can enjoy the drinks without slashing your budget. You can also ask the producer directly whether the wines in their selection are suitable for vegans. There are also plenty of proud vegan wine vineyards, such as Frey Vineyards in California, that are worth exploring in your guest for better wine.
You can also use the Barnivore database to find vegan wines. To give you a head start, here are a few recommendations:
• Viñedos Organicos Emiliana, Coyam, Colchagua Valley, Chile
• Tesco Finest Palestra Rueda Verdejo, Spain
• Altos del Condor Sauvignon Gris, Trapiche Vineyards, Argentina
• Mas Foulaquier, Les Tonilliers, Pic Saint Loup, Languedoc
One final thing to know about vegan wine has to do with the ageing process. Since the vegan wine doesn’t contain sulphites, it can spoil much quicker. Therefore, you don’t want to hold on to your bottle for too long!
So, when you are cooking a delicious vegan meal, you should definitely pair it with a tasty vegan wine. It’s not as hard as you might think and the benefits are worth looking for that perfect wine!
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