Vegan wine
We name what it was fined with, not just what it was not.
Wine is vegan or not depending on one step: fining, the process that pulls haze and harshness out before bottling. The traditional agents are egg white, casein from milk, gelatin and isinglass from fish swim bladders. None of them stay in the wine, all of them touched it.
The plant and mineral alternatives are bentonite clay, pea protein and potato protein, and a good deal of serious wine is simply not fined at all. Unfined and unfiltered is a quality decision as much as a dietary one, and it is the reason some bottles arrive cloudy.
Rather than print a logo, each page names the agent used, or says unfined, or says Not declared where the producer has not told us.
Questions
Why is some wine not vegan?
Because of fining. Wine is often clarified with animal derived agents: egg white, casein from milk, gelatin, or isinglass from fish. The agent binds to particles and is removed before bottling, so almost none remains in the glass, but it was used in production. Wines fined with bentonite clay or plant proteins, or not fined at all, are vegan.
Is unfined wine the same as vegan wine?
Unfined wine is always vegan, but vegan wine is not always unfined. A wine fined with bentonite clay is vegan and clarified. An unfined wine has had nothing added at all, which is the stricter position and often shows as a slight haze in the glass.