Wine

Riku and Anna Väänänen

Riku and Anna Väänänen - Image supplied
Interviews

Riku Väänänen: “It’s About Creating a System Where Every Stage of Production Respects Both Nature and Animal Welfare”

Riku and Anna Väänänen are a Finnish couple who left their corporate careers in Switzerland to pursue their passion for winemaking in the renowned Côtes de Bourg region of Bordeaux. Since 2016, they have been producing high-quality vegan and organic wines at Château Puybarbe, earning consistent praise from top wine critics, with all their wines scoring over 90 points from Decanter, Wine Enthusiast, and other respected reviewers. Their portfolio includes four distinct red wines and a celebrated rosé, Annabel. In this exclusive interview, Riku Väänänen shares his remarkable journey from the corporate world to sustainable viticulture. He discusses his dedication to soil regeneration, organic farming, and vegan winemaking, explaining why he chose to certify Château Puybarbe under the Biocyclic Vegan Standard. Riku also highlights the …

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Grupo Agrovin has launched an alternative to animal-based fining agents for wine based on yeast proteins.

© Agrovin
Ingredients

Agrovin Unveils New Yeast Alternative to Animal-Based Wine Clarifiers

Agrovin, a Spanish biotech supplier of oenological products, winemaking equipment, and services, has launched an alternative to animal-based fining agents based on yeast proteins. Branded Clarifine Proyeast, the new development is a 100% vegan, organic, and allergen-free clarifier for wine. It can be used to produce organic wines according to European and NOP regulations. Agrovin extracts a yeast protein from the strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae to develop the product. With a molecular weight of more than 15 KDa, it is said to offer a higher absorption degree, favoring the cleanliness of the wines by collecting the impurities. Clarifine Proyeast is said to deliver cleaner whites and rosés with greater brilliance, refined reds that preserve their color, and a reduction of astringency, improving mouthfeel. Additionally, it protects …

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Chinova Bioworks beer

©Chinova Bioworks

Fungi, Mushrooms & Mycelium

Chinova Bioworks Develops “Game Changing” Vegan Fining Agent Made From Mushrooms

Chinova Bioworks, a Canadian company using fungi to reduce food waste, announces the launch of Mycobrio™ — a mushroom-derived fining agent which can replace synthetic and animal-derived fining agents such as isinglass and gelatin, traditionally used in fermented drinks such as beers and wines. Mycobrio™ is described as a natural extract fiber derived from the stems of white button mushrooms, which serves as a fining agent for the alcoholic and low/non-alcoholic wine, beer, cider, seltzer, and spirits market, and as broad spectrum protection against spoilage caused by yeast, mold, and bacteria. Removing animal ingredients from beverages The newly developed ingredient can be used in the fining of yeast, tannins, proteins, and other matter from beer, wine, cider, and seltzers. It is an advanced natural replacement …

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vegan wine sales increase

© Virgin Wines
Beverages

UK Vegan Wine Sales Rise by 51% in Two Years

UK brand Virgin Wines has reported that its vegan wine sales rose from 1,149,869 to 1,735,730 bottles between 2019 and 2021 — a jump of 51%. Since 2020, Virgin Wines has significantly expanded its vegan range from 300 to over 400 varieties. A survey carried out by the brand two years ago found that a huge 36% of consumers were choosing vegan wines, motivated mainly by animal welfare and environmental concerns. Vegan wine in the UK UK consumers can now choose from a huge range of animal-free wines. In March, Aldi UK launched a Vegan Favourites Wine Pack containing six premium varieties, while supermarket chain SPAR made all 70 of its own-brand wines vegan-friendly at the beginning of the year. Marks & Spencer also has …

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hands_grapes CrushDynamics

© CrushDynamics
Investments & Finance

Canada’s CrushDynamics Raises $3.6M to Upcycle Wine Industry Waste For Alt Protein

CrushDynamics, formerly Winecrush Technology Inc, contacts vegconomist to report it has raised $3.6 million in Seed 2 financing.  The British Colombia based company is upcycling grape derivatives to produce nutritious plant-based foods. Interestingly, CrushDynamics reports that it has partnered with Protein Industry Canada, Lumi Foods and Save-On-Foods in an “initiative to create the next generation of plant-based cheese using Canadian-grown oats, legumes and pulses.” The company’s mission is to turn high quality,  grape derivative material into healthy foods, stating that discarded grape pomace, even after pressing during the winemaking process, is still exceptionally rich in phenolic compounds, fiber, and antioxidant properties. After working with some of the leading wine scientists in Canada, CrushDynamics is pioneering a new, proprietary process for transforming these derivatives into valuable …

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Vegan Favourites Wine Pack

© Aldi UK
Beverages

Aldi UK Launches Vegan Favourites Wine Pack After Plant-Based Sales Soar by 500%

Discount supermarket Aldi has introduced a Vegan Favourites Wine Pack in the UK. The pack contains six premium animal-free wines, including reds, whites, and rosés. Aldi decided to launch the vegan wine selection after its sales of plant-based products soared by 500% during Veganuary. The supermarket introduced a huge new vegan range to coincide with the campaign, including plant-based cheese, bacon, sponge puddings, and ready meals. The Vegan Favourites Wine Pack is available online only, retailing at £59.44. The wines included are Specially Selected Swiss Fendant, Winemaster’s Lot Amarone, La Pergola Rosé, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie, Pays d’Herault Rosé, and Chilean País. Vegan wine in the UK Aldi is not the only UK supermarket to recently increase its range of animal-free wines — …

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Wines at UK Supermarket SPAR

© SPAR
Food & Beverage

All 70 Own-Brand Wines at UK Supermarket SPAR Now Vegan-Friendly

All private label wines at UK supermarket SPAR are now suitable for vegans, after the chain decided to make its range more inclusive for Veganuary 2022. Many wines are not vegan due to the use of animal ingredients such as isinglass, gelatin, or casein in the clarification process. However, animal-free alternatives are now available, and many companies are opting to make the switch. SPAR originally pledged to make all its wines vegan in 2019, claiming it would be the first supermarket to do so. The chain has 70 own-brand wines in its range, which between them have won almost 200 awards over the past three years — and all these wines can now be enjoyed by those who avoid animal products. Vegan wines As consumers …

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2021 Lieutenant Governor's Award for Excellence in Nova Scotia Wines - L'Acadie Vineyards - 2014 Prestige Brut Estate

2014 Prestige Brut Estate ©L'Acadie Vineyards

Agriculture / Agribusiness

Canada’s L’Acadie Vineyards Becomes First Biocyclic Vegan Winery in North America

L’Acadie Vineyards in Gaspereau Nova Scotia, Canada is the first farm and winery in North America to adopt the stringent European Biocyclic Vegan Standard of avoiding all animal inputs in the vineyard and winery, making it the first farm and winery in North America to be qualified to use the Biocyclic Vegan Quality Seal. Biocyclic Vegan agriculture means purely plant-based organic farming. This form of cultivation excludes all commercial livestock farming of animals and does not use any inputs of animal origin in viticulture and winemaking. Special emphasis is placed on the promotion of biodiversity, healthy soil life, the closure of organic cycles and systematic humus build-up. L’Acadie Vineyards is the first organic winery in Nova Scotia since its inception in 2004 and their operations …

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Vegan Wines

© Vegan Wines
Food & Beverage

Vegan Wines Offers Free Shipping to Celebrate Summer in the US

Vegan Wines, which offers 100% vegan wines produced in Puerto Rico, is offering the opportunity to receive wine with the cost of shipping at only USD $0.01 until the end of 2022. To enter the sweepstakes, consumers must order at least four bottles of their vegan wines before the end of July. Prize winners will be selected on August 1. In April this year, vegconomist en español spoke with Frances González, founder and president of Vegan Wines. The Puerto Rican-born New York entrepreneur, in addition to creating a global brand of 100% vegan-friendly wines, also runs VegFest Puerto Rico. “We visit all the vineyards of the wines we present to confirm that everything is animal product-free, from the soil to the glass,” Gonzalez said of …

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M&S wines

M&S
Products & Launches

Marks & Spencer Introduces New Range of Vegan and Sustainable Wines

UK retailer Marks & Spencer has launched a new wine collection featuring 12 vegan wines as part of the company’s push to make its wine range 100% vegan by 2022. Named “Found”, the wines were also chosen for their sustainability credentials, with wineries utilising carbon offsetting schemes, organic and biodynamic farming and water management programs. 

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Avaline

©Avaline
Food & Beverage

‘Clean Wine’ Brand Avaline, Co-Founded by Cameron Diaz, Launches Avaline Red

Avaline, a vegan wine brand founded by actress Cameron Diaz and entrepreneur Katherine Powe, launches its Avaline Red today and says that it has added transparency to the labeling, perhaps following some criticism related to the concept of “clean wine” and the fact that it does contain sulphites which organic wine should be free from.

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Chinesische Metropole im Wandel zwischen alt und modern

© guy yong nian – stock.adobe.com
Company News

Zhenmeats Seeks US$2M for a Place in the Chinese Plant-Based Pork Market

Zhenmeat founder Vince Lu told CNBC in an interview this week that the Beijing-based startup is “talking aggressively” with investors from Europe, China and the United States in hopes to raise up to US$ 2 million to increase the scale of production of its plant-based mincemeat made from pea protein.

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Amanda Thomson of Thomson & Scott LS

Courtesy of Thomson and Scott
Interviews

Thomson & Scott: “Animal Derived Products are Now Taking Over as the Number one Enemy of the Conscious Consumer”

This year saw an explosion of vegan products, as was expected by countless organisations and experts surrounding the industry. One area often overlooked when it comes to vegan products is that of alcoholic beverages. We spoke initially with Thomson & Scott in August of 2018 about their range of vegan wines. Here we have an update from the company about progress over the last year and plans for the year to come.

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