In this article
Why might a wine not be vegan?
Grapes are plants and fermentation is done by yeasts, so in principle every wine would be vegan. The issue is fining: to make a wine clear and stable, many producers add proteins that trap suspended particles and drag them to the bottom. Some of those proteins are animal-derived: egg white (albumin), milk (casein), gelatine (from bones and skin) and isinglass (from fish swim bladders).
These agents are removed before bottling, so the finished wine is not “made of egg” or “made of fish”. But for a vegan what counts is the process: an animal product was used to make it.
How a wine is fined without animal products
There are non-animal alternatives: bentonite (a clay) and plant proteins such as pea or potato. And there is an even simpler route: not fining at all. Many natural winemakers let the wine settle on its own through rest and racking, with no fining and no filtration. That is why natural wine is often said to tend towards vegan.
“Tends to be” is not “is”. A wine that was not fined answers only part of the question, as you will see next.
The other side: what happens in the vineyard
An unfined wine can come from a vineyard that uses animal products. There are three common cases: manure or compost as fertiliser (also in organic and biodynamic farming), biodynamic preparations (preparation 500 is made from cow manure buried in a cow horn) and animal traction. Whether that is a problem depends on where each person draws the line and on what each certifier requires.
Two real examples. In Alsace, Zind-Humbrecht told the Barnivore database (November 2023) that it uses no animal-origin products in the wine, but cannot be certified vegan because it uses animal-manure compost and keeps five draught horses. And in the Jura, Domaine de la Touraize (Arbois) bottles, according to idealwine, “sans collage ni filtration”, but in the vineyard it uses “a little sheep manure in winter” and biodynamic preparations such as 500P.
What the label says (and does not)
In the EU, if milk or egg are used for fining and detectable residues remain in the wine, it must be stated on the label (“milk”, “egg”), under Regulation (EU) 579/2012. By contrast, fish gelatine and isinglass used to fine wine and beer are exempt from allergen labelling (Annex II of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011). The result: a label that does not say “contains egg” or “contains milk” does not guarantee that the wine is vegan.
We have not found an EU rule that defines a “vegan wine” either: what exists are private certifications. For example, according to Jancis Robinson, wineries can apply to The Vegan Society for its registered trademark by providing details of how they make their wine. A seal like that is useful information; the word “vegan” without a seal is only what the seller says.
And in the Jura? What they say there about vegan wine
The Jura is one of the French regions with the most natural wine, and we wanted to know how people there talk about it. From what we could review, there is no collective position and no regional vegan seal. The listings that say “vegan” are written mostly by shops and importers; producers talk about what they do: “sans collage”, “sans filtration”, native yeasts, little or no sulphur.
What the Jura shows is exactly the distinction in this guide: unfined and vegan are two different questions. A wine can be organic, natural, unfined and unfiltered, and still come from a vineyard with manure or animal-derived preparations. If it matters to you, the producer has the answer, not the category. And let us not generalise: this is not a study of the region, only what the sources cited say.
How to find out whether a wine is vegan
If it matters to you, these are the questions we would ask the producer, in this order:
- Do you fine? With what product, and is the wine filtered afterwards.
- What fertilisers do you use? Manure, compost, bone or blood meal, or green manures.
- Do you use biodynamic preparations or animal traction?
- Any animal product in the closure, the sealing or the label glue?
- Do you have a vegan seal? If so, better than the bare word.
A database such as Barnivore collects wineries’ answers, but it records when a status is unconfirmed: a starting point, not a seal.
What we do at Terroir Radical
Today we do not classify any wine in the catalogue as vegan, because to say so we would need written confirmation of the fining agent, the filtration and what happens in the vineyard. On each wine page we do tell you what the producer confirms about how it is made. If this matters to you, write to hola@terroirradical.es and we will ask the producer. To learn more: what natural wine is, what minimal intervention means and organic, biodynamic or natural.
In short
- Fining with animals — Egg white, milk, gelatine or isinglass: they are removed, but the process used them.
- Unfined ≠ vegan — Animal fertiliser or biodynamic preparations in the vineyard also count.
- The label is not enough — No “contains egg/milk” is no guarantee either. The only backing is a seal or the producer’s confirmation.
Choose with confidence
On each wine page we state what the producer confirms about how it is made.
Keep reading
- Natural wine: what it is and where to buy it
- Wine with no added sulphites: myths, limits and labels
- Organic, biodynamic or natural wine: the real differences
- How to read a natural wine label (and what it leaves out)
Sources: Regulation (EU) 579/2012 · Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 · The Vegan Society · Jancis Robinson · Barnivore (Zind-Humbrecht) · idealwine (Domaine de la Touraize). Last reviewed: 5 November 2026.