Why is Is non-alcoholic wine not always vegan?
Grapes are vegan. There is no doubt about that. Non-alcoholic wine is also made from grapes, so is it? Unfortunately not necessarily. In the production process from the grape to the finished wine, there is a step in which an animal product is often used.
Animal proteins are often used to remove turbidity and suspended particles. These can include casein, a milk protein, gelatine, i.e. animal protein, or even fish bladders. The tricky thing for vegans is that these are technical aids. These substances are not legally considered ingredients and therefore do not have to be declared on the label. The animal proteins bind to the suspended particles, sink to the bottom with them and the sediment is removed. What remains is the clear wine, which at least in theory no longer contains any animal proteins. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that technically unavoidable residues remain in the clarified wine.
Since non-alcoholic wine is usually made from alcoholic wine from which the alcohol is removed, the clarification of the cloudy substances in non-alcoholic wine also usually takes place with animal substances.
However, vegans do not have to completely forgo wine or non-alcoholic wine, as there are also vegan production methods. For example, the wine is clarified using plant proteins or clarification is omitted altogether. So if the label says "unfiltered" or "unclarified", there is a high probability that no animal additives were used. Or, to be on the safe side, vegans can choose bottles labeled "vegan".
