When wine is made, after its fermentation it goes through another process called, “fining” during which time new ingredients are added to drag down silt and other debris to the bottom of the barrel; this step separates the wine from the solids. It is done in order for the wine to be as clear (versus cloudy) as possible. Some ingredients used to fine wine are the following:

1. egg whites; 2. cow blood; 3. gelatin made from animal bones; 4. isinglass (from fish bladders usually from sturgeons); 5. casein and potassium caseinate (milk proteins); 6. Bentonite (clay) 7. polymers (which is vegan but not organic)

All the of the above are obviously icky and non-vegan, except for the clay and polymers. Luckily, sometime in the 90s Europe banned the use of cow’s blood as a wine clarifier (done to reduce the spread and transmission of Mad Cow Disease) That said, there are probably older vintage French wines out there that were cleared with cow blood and made before that law was passed. Sorry for being the devil’s advocate, but at least you know the wines made after the 90s didn’t use cow blood (weren’t supposed to, anyway).

Some good news: the most common fining ingredients in France are the egg whites and the natural clay. Also, a few French vintners do not even practice the fining process at all, so there are some wines out there that are naturally vegan, though you may find some of them to be cloudier than others. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the equivalent of Thunderbird, America’s favorite wino wine.

How does one know if a French wine is vegan or not? Wine producers are not required to list ingredients that were used in the fining process on their labels. Another problems is that some organic wines might be organic but that doesn’t mean they’re vegan. And some vegan wines are not organic. I’d think that someone who goes as far as practicing veganism, would definitely prefer organic, but people have different reasons for being a vegan.

The only thing to do to be sure a French wine is vegan is to directly contact the wine producer and ask them yourself. Or, if you buy wines from a trusted wine merchant, they can find out for you; they can conveniently let you know not only which wines are vegan, but which vegan wines are the best.