Vegan Vegetarian and Natural Wines

Did you know we stock a selection of Vegan and Vegetarian wines at Gwin Llyn Wines? We are finding more and more of our discerning customers are requesting wines to meet their dietary requirements and lifestyle choices and we are yet to fail.
What makes a wine vegan or vegetarian friendly? In simplistic terms, fining is done to clarify the wine. This makes the juice clear and bright. Animal proteins such as milk, egg whites and gelatin or fish scales are commonly used as finin agents. Wines classified as vegan or vegetarian are clarified using clay or charcoal.
Natural Wines have become somewhat popular but have been something of a hard sell as they appear to be odd smelling, cloudy and, lets face it, undrinkable! But there is something compelling in the idea of minimal intervention in the vineyard and in the winery.
Minimal intervention should refer to the ultra-conscientious winemaker with an innate understanding of vine-growing and the processes involved in producing the finished product. They will taste the wines every day to evaluate their development giving the time, patience and space in the winery to allow the wines to fulfil their potential.
Isabelle Legeron MW was the first to put together a set of criteria for natural wines in her 2012 Charter of Quality and was used by Decanter Magazine for their first blind taste panel in May 2018. Our friends at Boutinot have tried to define some of the less clear definitions and here are theirs:
* Organically or biodynamically grown grapes with or without certification
* No irrigation
* Hand-picked
* No added sugars, yeasts or bacteria
* No adjustments for acidity
* No external flavour additives other than those imparted by barrels (no staves, chips or liquid extract)
* Minimal or no fining
* light filtration, or none
* No heavy manipulation
* Total sulphites <70mg/L

So now you know!