Vegetarian and Vegan wines
First of all I want to mention an interesting article – San Francisco Chronicle / Michelle Locke, 2010.04.25 These winemakers love grapes, not meat. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/25/FDN11COMVJ.DTL
In the undisputable reference book of wine education – Robinson, Jancis (Ed.) 2006. The Oxford Companion to Wine, 3. Edition. Oxford, Oxford University Press, www.oup.com / www.amazon.com – you find at page 729 the following article about “Vegetarian and Vegan Wine”
“vegetarian and vegan wines are increasingly requested by consumers. The main area of concern is the use of animal-based products for FINING and STABILIZING wine.
Of the five most common agents, only BENTONITE is suitable for vegans as well as vegetarians; CASEIN and albumin (see EGG WHITES) are acceptable to most vegetarians; ISINGLASS and GELATIN would be unacceptable to most vegetarians and vegans. Although such materials are processing aids rather than additives, it is impossible to guarantee that there is absolutely no residue in the wine and some wine drinkers may object to the actual use of an animal-derived project.
Some winemakers and retailers have started to make this information available on the bottle or at the point of sale. See also LABELLING INFORMATION.”
On August 30, 2008 Jane MacQuitty published in The Times the article -
Vegan wines. Once cranky, now mainstream, vegan and vegetarian-approved wines are increasingly being sought by drinkers, including Times readers.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/wine/article4612009.ece
Retailers who offer you such information are for example in Britain the two leading organic wine retailers www.vinceremos.co.uk and www.vintageroots.co.uk
Also the wine clubs http://viva.org.uk/wineshop/index.php and
http://www.animalaidshop.org.uk//wine.htm offers you such information.