Vegans shouldn't drink wine

My dad is a home winemaker, with rows of his own vines in his NorCal backyard, but also with an annual trip to Paso Robles or Napa for a bunch of lug boxes of grapes. He has a stemmer/crusher in the garage, wine barrels and a bunch of big 5-gallon glass carboys, then all of his mad scientist brew gets to percolating in his cellar. Some years it's drinkable, others years, eh. But having helped out with the process occasionally, I can say that vegetarians should stick with bubbly water. Siphoning the grape juice from one container into the next, you have to dip a hose past a raft of squished yellowjackets and other bugs, then suck to start the flow, sticking the other end of the hose into the new container. Even in a good year, there's nothing animal-protein-free about this wine. Which is why this article about vegan wines had some interesting points. First, wines are often "fined" with things like egg white. Not so vegan. And then there are the bugs. Turns out, a couple of Oregon wineries now have "bug suckers" to remove all the critters, which are then turned loose to fight another day.

Comments

[Lorrainesfav]

My Italian grandpa grew his own grapes and made heavy duty red wine in his garage. I remember as a kid how strong the smell of the wine barrels were. I don't think any bugs would get near those barrels. My parents said the wine was not really fit to drink! Grandpa drank a glass or two of his wine at supper each night and he lived to 85. Maybe there was some medicinal value to that wine.

[Jimbo]

I have an ethical dilemma here. This article will ruin my son's day--if not life--yet I should probably forward it to make him aware......