The 20 best vegan wines

With more choices available in supermarkets and online than ever before, the Observer’s wine writer selects the pick of the bunch

In one sense, defining a vegan or vegetarian wine is easy. They’re wines made without the use of, respectively, animal or meat products. But herbivores and carnivores alike may not have considered the possibility of animal products appearing in a drink that is, after all, supposed to be fermented grapes. What the hell is a non-vegan or non-vegetarian wine, you might reasonably ask.

The explanation is simple, if, for vegans and vegetarians, not especially reassuring. Most wine producers use animal-derived products to act as a filter for organic particles that may be detrimental to its flavour, texture, colour or appearance. It may be boiled fish bladders (isinglass) or animal parts (gelatin); it could be blood or bone marrow, egg whites (albumen), milk protein (casein), fish oil or shellfish fibres.