The Vegan Wine Project | Smith's Wine Store
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But wait, isn't all wine vegan?


You’re probably surprised to learn that most wine is not. And we don’t just mean the fly that floats into your glass on a hot summer’s day. Sure, the majority of wine is just grapes, but widely used traditional methods of winemaking use animal by-products such as fish derived protein and egg whites in the filtering process. Though we value tradition, there’s benefit to modern thinking; creating wines that have less impact on the environment and more impact on your palate seems like a no brainer to us.


Making the switch

We began removing animal products from our winemaking process several years ago and haven’t looked back. We quickly found that not only was this process more ethical, but the profile of our Vegan Wine Project wines actually had more robust flavours and textures.

Simply put, we were leaving more of what nature had created, the viticulturists had nurtured and the winemakers crafted in the wine. We were doing less by adding less, yet making something that had more.

About Us

The Vegan Wine Project is a new venture of South Australian wine pioneers, Yalumba. Yalumba has been making wines in South Australia for more than 170 years. Our expertise and passion have grown in size and stature, embodying all that has made the Australian wine success story the envy of winemakers the world over.                    

15 years ago we began to consider our winemaking practices and the role that animal fining agents played. We won’t lie, the results quite quickly surprised us. The new wines’ flavour profiles were full, the texture created intrigue and they paired beautifully with food. As a whole, the wines had both important elements of complexity and approachability. The ethos worked with the direction we were hoping to achieve for the future. We knew we were onto something.

Years of Knowledge

Using our years of knowledge we refined the wine to create something we could be proud of, but also implemented these techniques across the whole Yalumba collection. Today you’ll find all Yalumba wines since 2012 vintage are vegan. We wanted our conscious choices to span the entirety of our brand and show our customers that although this is a new philosophy, it doesn’t change our continuous strive for quality. We found that many of our customers didn’t notice the change in our range, and those that did spoke highly of the new ‘je ne sais quoi.’

Our Philosophy


Better for the Environment


With more and more understanding of sustainability and ethical treatment of the environment worldwide, we believed it was time to shine the light on this corner of the winemaking world. We won’t preach to you about your choices or shame you for enjoying what you’ve always loved, but through The Vegan Wine Project we hope to enlighten you with a new way to enjoy your favourite drop.

Environmental sustainability is close to our heart, and we know that the more people who make small changes, the bigger the impact. If making the switch with your wine is your way of making a difference, wine not?

The Vegan Wine Project is about being conscious of the choices you make, about what you put into your body and the impact you have on the world..

Our Wines

Future thinking. Fun thinking.
To us, wine should taste good, feel good and do a little bit of good. Most of all, wine should be enjoyed. Forget the snobbery. Forget contemplation. Forget the old school. The Vegan Wine Project is focused on enjoying the present and preserving the future, for you and the planet. We’ll be trying out unexpected pairings and fun recipes, to educate a new age of wine lovers who are more conscious about their choices.

Better Flavour

We’ve always been passionate about celebrating unique flavours, characteristics and terroir in our winemaking and The Vegan Wine Project is no different. What we’ve come to learn is that by taking extra processes out, we’ve actually added more. More flavour, more texture and more interest. Plus, we’ve found our wines now pair far better with food.


Better Feeling

Many have noted the impact that turning to a vegan lifestyle has made on their overall health. We’re not nutritionists, but we do believe in products that make you feel great. By showcasing more of what our expert viticulturists have nurtured, we’re left with a range of wine that is far closer to how we believe mother nature would’ve intended.

This is the best of Old World knowledge with New World philosophy. There’s nothing to lose (but the animal products).

Our Wines

Many wine lovers the world over don’t realise that traditional winemaking practices mean that most wine isn’t actually vegan. And who can blame them? It’s not something winemakers readily talk about.

Animal by-products are commonly used in the wine clarification process, known as fining. Typical fining agents include fish bladder protein, egg whites, gelatin and milk protein. While the ingenuity of winemakers of nearly two centuries ago never ceases to impress us, we’ve found a more sustainable way forward.