I have a confession to make. I LOVE wine. Specifically and almost exclusively red wine. Sorry (not sorry) white wine fans. If I do drink the latter, which is rarely, it’s because I needed some for a recipe I’m planning to use.
And rosé? No thank you. Sweet wines, even the red ones, are always another big ol’ nope. I like my wine like I like my humor – dry. Since I almost never bake, mainly because I’ve never been good at it (even during my pre-vegan days), I’m pretty much a savory girl through and through.
If you’ve been vegan awhile and love wine too, then you already know what I’m going to say next. If not, I hate to say it but not all wine is created equal, I mean vegan. Why? It’s the fining agents used by some vineyards during the winemaking process to remove bitterness and other unwanted additions to the wine. Fining is also used to clarify the wine so it’s more appealing in the glass. Some of the non-vegan fining agents that are used include gelatin, albumen (from egg whites), casein (protein from dairy milk), lactose (also from milk), isinglass (comes from fish bladders (!)), carmine (crushed beetle scales) and charcoal made from animal bone. None end up in the final product, but still. Gross! No thank you!
Good thing there’s a site like Barnivore available to check whether or not a particular wine is vegan or not. There’s been more times than I’d like to admit that I’ve stood in the red wine aisle desperately checking for a vegan-friendly wine. Kind of like when I’m in the bread aisle near tears because I can’t find a loaf of sliced bread without any milk or honey in the ingredient list.
So you don’t have to suffer through that as often, here’s a list of my affordable go-to vegan or vegan-friendly wines that I grab off of the shelf without worry. I’ve listed them below by the grocery stores in my area, so it might be different where you are.
A few things to keep in mind though. Even though red wine is my main jam, I’m not a wine snob or connoisseur by any means. No swirling of each of these wines, using fancy words to describe the flavors, notes or whatever. If there’s a “v” next to one, that means it’s even labeled as vegan on the back of the bottle. Ok, to the list!
Kroger:
Whole Foods:
Trader Joe's:
There you have it… my list of vegan and vegan-friendly wines! If you’re like me and love the red wine, run to the store and grab a bottle. Próst!