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VEGAN WINE We all know that wine is made from grapes; natural yeasts convert sugars in the grape juice to alcohol. Pretty straightforward, right? So why are there some wines that are deemed not vegetarian or vegan? The reason that not all wines are If you have any questions about any wines, PEI Liquor’s in-store Product Advisors are here to help! They have extensive product knowledge and in-store resources to help you find the right wine for you. Additionally, a great resource for researching vegan and vegetarian wines is Barnivore, which has catalogued alcoholic drinks

considered vegetarian or vegan has to do with the way they are clarified, a process called “fining”. Young wines are naturally quite cloudy (think of an unfiltered beer) and are full of tiny, harmless particles like tannins, proteins and phenolics. Most wines, if left to age long enough, will clarify on their own, but most producers add a clarifying agent to speed the process along. The suspended molecules in the wine coagulate around the fining agent and are then filtered out. Traditionally, the fining agents used were casein (a milk protein), gelatine (animal protein), isinglass (from fish) and albumen (egg and protein). These fining agents are inexpensive and do a great job creating a clear, bright wine that appeals to customers, which is why they are so wisely used. Even though the fining agents are filtered out almost completely, some customers prefer wines that don’t use animal products or by-products in the fining process. Many winemakers use clay-based fining agents to create vegan-friendly wines. Additionally, many winemakers are choosing to let their wines clarify naturally, without any fining agents at all. Wine labels typically do not indicate details on fining agents. Fining agents only need to be listed when it is a potential allergen like eggs or fish and it is present in the wine at a level of 10 parts per million or higher.

of all types. You can peruse their carefully researched list of wines, beers and spirits to help you identify products that are in line with your preferences.

20 CELEBRATE SPRING 2019

*Limited Time Offers from April 1 - May 14