Month: January 2024

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Sally Evans uncorks vegan wine.

Wine is made from grapes, so it must be vegan right? Or is it? Today’s guest post from Sally Evans owner wine maker at  Château George 7 looks at what exactly makes a wine vegan.  Sally is vegetarian, not vegan but she takes us through her wine making choices to make Château George 7 wines accessible to as many wine lovers as possible. Let me hand over to Sally.  

I used to assume (like most) that wine is made of just grapes and so automatically suitable for vegans. But since becoming a wine producer and subsequently a vegetarian, I have realised there is much more to it. During ‘Veganury’ (and beyond), more and more people are trying to eat a more plant-based diet or even give up animal products all together. But do we know whether the wines we drink are vegan or suitable for vegetarians? And is there a difference? 

I am a vegetarian winemaker; this was one of the driving factors behind collaborating with Wendy to create wwww.wineand2veg.com. I struggled to find good advice on wine pairing suggestions for plant-based dishes with far too much focus on pairing Bordeaux with beef. With the growing trend (plus health advice) towards plant-based eating, the wine world needs to ensure it is including these consumers.

A general consensus on the vegan wine definition is ‘a wine not having been made or come into contact with anything derived from an animal source’. Here, I try to break down the mystery around winemaking so that drinkers of my wines really understand what happens in the process. Here are some of the decisions I have made and some things you might not have thought about when considering whether a wine is vegan-friendly:

Fining 

Let’s start with the obvious – fining for clarification and stabilisation. Fining involves adding a product at final stages of wine making, after filtering and before bottling. It passes through the wine and any remaining tiny particles in the wine stick to it. These particles together with the fining agent create a sediment that is then removed. Traditionally derived from fish eggs or egg white or casein (a milk protein), the fining agent passes through and none should remain in the finished wine. However, if there’s the slightest chance a touch of the fining agent is still present, then things get sticky because an animal product has been in contact with the wine even though it is taken out afterwards. While vegetarians might not object to egg white, vegan-friendly fining options include a pea protein or bentonite. Alternatively, don’t fine at all. Here at Château George 7, we have never fined our red wines. For the Château George 7 white, we tried bentonite but now we don’t fine the white either – we simply filter and bottle. 

Clearly white George 7 Blanc

MOG 

Now for one you might not have thought of. Wine is just made of grapes, right? Technically yes, but apart from the obvious yeast or sulphur, some wines have other things added to them depending on where in the world they are made. Here in France, we have very strict regulations on what can go into wine, which is very little. I can’t speak for all wine production worldwide, but in the main, additives don’t tend to involve animal products. But how about accidentally? Anyone working on a sorting table during harvest where the grapes are machine harvested will be amazed at the amount of MOG [matter other than grapes) that rocks past as red wine grapes head for fermentation – snails, lizards even baby snakes or parts thereof. (Aside: I love the fact that the vines are teeming with lots of wildlife). If some bits get through, they will be removed with the grape must after fermentation, or at worst during filtering. But they have been in contact with the wine during its production albeit by accident and in very small amounts.

For hand-picked grapes it’s different, pickers inspects individual bunches but even then, some insects might get through the initial phases. At Château George 7, in addition to manual sorting, we use an optical sorter, a sophisticated piece of equipment adding another level of sorting which inspects each grape for size and colour (thanks to computer pre-programming) and ejects anything that doesn’t conform. Not everyone uses an optical sorter though.

Animal input 

Then it starts getting more complex depending on why you are vegan or vegetarian.  Is it for health or environmental and sustainability reasons? Or is it a principle against the commoditisation of animals? (And they are linked). Or perhaps religious reasons?

Vegan or vegetarian-friendly has nothing to do with being organic – that is a different topic even if there may be overlap in the approach and guiding principles of the producer. Biodynamic viticulture follows many practices that are in tune with nature – from being guided by the moon to growing, making and using natural treatments based on specific plants. The practices of burying a cow horn filled with manure or using deer bladders for a yarrow preparation are unacceptable to many vegans because they require the rearing of animals for its parts i.e. commoditisation rather than a happy by-product of an animal’s natural existence. This is a real debate.

From soil

I use organic fertilizer on the vines and I switched from one made from fish by-products to one that is plant-based because I couldn’t be 100% sure that the fish weren’t farmed for that primary purpose. I made the switch to a plant-based one to be safe. 

Getting dirty or clean in the vines?

Fertilizer goes into the ground, not the wine so does it matter? Some purists hold out that any process linked to the environment where the wine grows or is created should not be involved in the ‘commoditisation’ of animals however well they are loved and treated when living. What about working horses in the vines?  Does this make the finished wine unsuitable for vegans if the horses exist for that purpose and their efforts harnessed to support wine production? Is this taking it all a bit far? Read on.


To cork

What about packaging? We don’t tend to consider whether a vegan sandwich is in packaging sealed with glue made from animal by-products, we assume that the food is neither touched nor affected by an animal derivatives (the glue might offend a purist’s principles). Natural glues using animal parts have been made for centuries while synthetic ones are common and made from plastic polymers, but they don’t break down easily.  Sustainability or vegan – the two aren’t always one and the same (nb from Wendy, check out Sally’s blog posts on her sustainability choices). As natural vegetal glues exist, I considered whether something I am using is in direct contact with the wine, giving the slight possibility that some of the animal product could be absorbed into it (as the case with fining).

Blue sky thinking, finding the right cork

What about the cork? I was delighted, on producing my first Château George 7 Blanc in 2020, a white wine made for early drinking rather than for ageing, to discover a new agglomerated cork (offcut real cork pieces hence more sustainable) bound together by only vegetal polyols including beeswax i.e. no animal products in the glue. But would vegans object as some wine touches the cork which has used a product from bees? 

Just in case, I solved this by switching the following year to another new cork bound by a glue made from discarded grape remains (skins and pips). Most people won’t consider that bees are commoditised for their beeswax because they are not ‘harnessed’ to work but others disagree. I avoided the issue thanks to a great alternative and I do like grape ‘waste’ being put to good use. Not an animal product in sight (or touch).

Communication 

We‘ve seen, the debate is broader than wine clarification. As producers we need to keep up the communication and not be mysterious about how we make our wines, allowing  the consumer can make up their own mind, especially now as more people are becoming vegetarian or vegan. There is a relatively recent independent certification scheme called EVE Vegan which covers all products and not just wine. However, a number of producers and others in the wine trade I asked hadn’t heard of it. I don’t feel it’s a certification that warrants my personal investment until it becomes more widely recognised – we already have enough schemes/logos that the consumer doesn’t understand, it’s simple enough to put vegan on the back label.  As we move to obligatory ingredient labelling in the EU, this step change for the wine industry can also offer producers the chance to be open regarding whether their wines are suitable for vegans (although it’s not part of the new legal requirement).


What’s your why? 

It comes down to why you are vegan, whether you consider anything that harnesses animals in the production process renders a wine out of kilter with your principles. With this as for other decisions when creating my wines, I have delved into each step of the process to make my own informed decisions, decisions I am happy with. Get to know producers of the wines you drink and what they do, only then can you be sure where animals and their by-products have come into contact with the wine you are drinking and if they really are suitable for vegans or vegetarians.

I want Château George 7 wines to be available to as wide an audience as possible. Vegan, vegetarian and anyone who enjoys a delicious glass of wine made with care and attention. Cheers.

The original version of this post can be found on The George 7 website.  Sally and I have created the website Wineand2veg suggesting seasonal wine and plant based food pairings. Making sustainable wines of Bordeaux more accessible to anyone looking to get more plants on their pates and to look at how wine can be part of a healthy lifestyle. 

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The Demon Drink or a Year of Magical Drinking? 

In 2018, I published The Drinking Woman’s Diet and I’ve been banging on about wine and wellness ever since. But now the conversation has changed and for the wine industry, not for the better. You can’t open a newspaper or scroll through social media without an article or report about the dangers of alcohol consumption. 

To top it all in January 2023, the WHO (World Health Organisation) pronounced that ‘No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health’. 

Wine consumption is down and this stark message will only accelerate the move away from alcohol. France is a dramatic example of the change.  Around 60% of Bordeaux sales are to the home market where, according to the CNIV (Comité National des interprofessions des vins des appellations) per head consumption has fallen from 100 litres per person pa in 1975 (admittedly a high starting point) to less than 40 litres today. This goes a long way to explain the recent government subsidies for uprooting vines across France.

In key export markets, wine prices are rising, partly due to increased taxation but also production and distribution costs. In her end of year review ‘The State of Wine in 2023’ in the Financial Times, Jancis Robinson said that ‘it is becoming painfully clear to those who produce and sell it that wine is a discretionary purchase’. Jancis also underlined the problems that this move away from wine to other beverages is having in Bordeaux, particularly the Entre deux Mers and Northern Medoc, interestingly both areas of Bordeaux that offer some of the best value buys of the region.

The Demon drink 

Despite traditionally considered a healthier option amongst alcoholic beverages, wine now seems to be in the cross hairs of the anti-alcohol lobby. As public messaging demonises wine consumption, the promotion of no and low options is on the rise, something we will surely see more of heading into dry January. 

The consumer is changing, a lot of young people are receptive to health messaging. I wrote about the clean wine movement a while back, while the wine industry rightly criticised the misleading health claims around ‘clean’ wine in their own echo chamber, the implied message that most wine isn’t clean, is dangerous. 

The new labelling legislation being introduced in Europe may help but the information about alcohol levels, which is what we are really concerned with here, is already clearly on the label. 

Nothing new

There’s nothing new about neo-prohibitionists and the wine industry isn’t completely ignoring them. As early as 1990, Women for Wine sense (WWS) was created by two leading Californian women in wine, Michaela Rodeno and Julie Johnson. The aim was, and still is, to increase wine knowledge as a counterweight to the anti-alcohol lobby they were already contending with. The premise being a better understanding of wine leads to more responsible consumption. It’s a successful organisation, a group from WWS came to Bordeaux several years ago and I’ve spoken at several of their events since. Their growing network of over 10 chapters throughout the US has a charitable arm that sponsors wine education for women in the industry.

Ten years ago, Europe created Wine in Moderation. Their social media campaign ‘’Cheers! Tips to enjoy a glass of wine while keeping safe‘ promotes ‘a message to encourage a moderate consumption of wine, and support wine professionals and consumers with positive and motivational words’. ‘Vins et Société‘ plays a similar role in France. Not exactly lobby groups for the industry but organisations that try to show a responsible face of the industry. 

In 2019, at the Fine Minds for Fine Wine forum in Bordeaux, it was brought to the audience’s attention that certain sovereign investment funds were actively disinvesting in companies linked to spirits production (following on from tobacco). Is wine next? 

The wine industry must communicate clearly around the subject and take a ‘reasonable’ stance before it’s taken for us, or taken away altogether . It’s not easy.  

In a recent podcast Areni’s Editorial Director Felicity Carter reported back from the Lifestyle, Diet, Wine & Health Congress where doctors, scientists and researchers examined the minefield of wine and health, and the challenges to the benefits traditionally thought to be linked to moderate wine consumption. The Congress was  organised by the  Wine Information Council, and, the Foundation for Wine and Nutrition Research. Carter discovered that the evidence around health benefits of wine or, at least  that it doesn’t cause harm, is complicated.  

Follow the science

As important as it is to understand the science, I’m not sure communicating around possible health benefits of wine is a great  strategy. The science can be contradictory and open to interpretation. Age and gender affect results and many studies rely on people self-reporting how much they drink, under reporting is an issue (lying about how much they drink). We know moderation is key, but the ‘less but better as part of a healthy lifestyle’ is a complicated and subtle message to promote, much more so than the “no safe level of consumption” message currently being shared. Differentiating between excess and the damage it causes and a healthy approach to drinking is a mine field. Make no mistake binge drinking is dangerous and the amount to qualify as a binge is probably less than you think.

Follow the money 

Increased criticism of alcohol was inevitable given the evolution of the wellness industry. Make no mistake it is an industry, according to the Global Wellness Institute Wellness it was worth $5.6 trillion in revenue in 2022.

Who are these neo-prohibitionists and why are they trying to suck the joy out of our lives? Is it a genuine concern for our health? Is it a desire to save the national health service from the costs incurred by alcoholics (please note – alcoholics not alcohol). Western populations are getting older and sicker, diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease are increasing but alcohol is not the only culprit responsible for this ‘Global Burden of Disease’. 

Is it easier to attack alcohol than sugar and Ultra Processed Foods (UPF)? Are the wine makers and booze companies less good at lobbying? The sugar and UPF industry seems to manage to maintain subsidies, or at least avoid criticism, for production of highly processed products such as high fructose corn syrup, a product as addictive as alcohol and much more ubiquitous. Are there lessons to be learnt? 

Felicity Carter warned that the wine industry should be wary of under estimating both the funding and the passion of those promoting a no and low model. With Booze branding expert, Erica Duecy, they have created ‘The Business of Drinks’  podcast exploring the big questions in beverage alcohol. A podcast that follows the money in drinks – their interviews with no and low company founders are enlightening. A lot of the motivation from founders of no and low also comes from personal experience, which makes them so passionate and evangelical about their message. 

Fighting talk 

Wine producers are passionate too and they need to share their passion. We know stories sell, personal stories even more so and there are so many great ones in the wine business. 

It’s no good putting our head in the sand and hoping that this too will pass. It might, but I doubt it. The stakes are high for the economic and also cultural importance of the wine industry, for all the alcohol industry. Spirits and beer are also part of the economic and social structure of their regions of production. 

We have amazing origin stories to tell, stories of history, nature, environmental and social responsibility. Wine is a wonderfully diverse and fascinating product from vine to glass, made by passionate people. Despite the anti-alcohol movement, travellers are embracing wine tourism, giving us more opportunities than ever to share the love.

The pleasure principal

Instead of talking about the health benefits of moderate wine drinking, let’s shift the focus to the pleasures of drinking responsibly. The pleasure of sharing wine and the stories around wine with friends and the social benefits that brings. Social drinkers have a better friend network, an important source of mental health. Social drinking is not the same as solo binge drinking whilst watching Netflix. 

We know moderate drinking can be part of a healthy lifestyle, ideally consuming wine with food such as the Mediterranean diet. Wine producers have so much to share, connecting their product to the place and to local culinary traditions that reinforce this positive message. Felicity Carter reported that the Congress talked a lot about the Mediterranean diet, how it’s possibly not wine alone that’s heart healthy, but its synergistic effect when paired with food rich in polyphenols. 

How to drink 

This is similar to the conclusion reached by Dan Buettner of Blue Zones fame. He concluded that social structure, often gathering around the table, enjoying sharing food and wine is one of the keys to living better and longer. It’s also about how, as well as what and how much we eat and drink.

What not to say. 

Irresponsible promotion around ‘Mommy Juice’, Wine o’clock and representing wine as a go-to stress reliver at the end of the day is not helping the industry. The anti-alcohol message, seems to be targeting women, perhaps in response to this irresponsible attitude to drinking. Women are traditionally more aware of and responsive to health messaging. There are also physiologically reasons, women metabolise alcohol more slowly than men and are more susceptible to harm from excess. 

The Drinking Woman’s Diet – time for a rebrand?

Time for a rebrand? 

When I published the Drinking Woman’s Diet it was inspired by friends struggling to get the balance right, to enjoy wine without damaging their health. It was intended as a practical but light-hearted look at how moderate wine consumption can be part of a healthy lifestyle. The title was perhaps misleading, despite my job as a wine educator I wasn’t trying to encourage women to drink, nor find an excuse for it. The landscape has changed, and as I’m now updating the book, perhaps it’s time for a rebrand as the discussion gets serious?  

This year, with wine maker Sally Evans at Château George 7 in Fronsac, we launched the Wineand2veg website. The objective is to look at how wine can be part of a plant based life style, how to match wine with veg. Drinking wine with food is protective in two ways, firstly, it slows the absorption of alcohol, blood alcohol levels rise more slowly, you get less intoxicated and there is less damage to the liver. There’s that possible synergy between plant polyphenols and those in wine, it’s a win – win. It’s also a way of engaging with consumers aware of the benefits of a plant based diet, showing that the wine world is open to them too.

The magic is in the wine  

I don’t drink wine because it’s good for me. I drink wine because I love it, I love sharing it with friends, I love the histories, the stories and the people behind the product.

Wine and wellness can work, but the messaging around pleasure and a shared passion is so much more engaging then either a puritanical dictum or a struggle to justify wine drinking for its health benefits. 

Let’s make 2024 the year we share our passion for the magic of wine? 

Happy New Year

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