Just as we were getting acquainted with vegan handbags and vegan festivities, leading champagne producer has thrown us a curveball by stating that their range of Champagnes will now be 100% vegan. The company does see this move as a way to be more environment friendly, but they also believe that the move to adopt vegan manufacturing techniques will boost the quality of their product.
Charles Duval-Leroy stated, “To become 100% Vegan, we needed 20 years’ experience. A colossal project was mounted to arrive at a method of natural clarification, mainly through the lengthening of time spent in vat or in barrel. In this way the wines retain all their taste, giving champagnes which are both rich and concentrated. It’s the perfect culmination and complement to all the work that precedes it in the vineyard, in harmony with nature. With an effervescence that is even more refined, more delicate… more dynamic!”
If you’re wondering what exactly this change entails, here’s what the brand’s website had to say:
‘Winemakers frequently use any of a variety of animal-derived products for clarifying or “fining” wines. These fining agents include gelatin (from various animal-industry byproducts), albumin (egg whites), milk protein caseins and one that’s quite common in Champagne, isinglass, obtained from fish bladders. These substances bind to solids in the wine and precipitate out of the solution, but traces can remain in the wine. At Duval-Leroy, the clarification process instead relies primarily on time.’
“The wine remains longer in tanks to allow it to clarify without adding any substances,” explained Sandrine Logette-Jardin, chef de cave at Duval-Leroy. “The wines are then cold-stabilized and finished using a filter medium of kieselguhr (a type of diatomaceous earth).”
This change makes the French Company the first to become 100% vegan friendly.
[ Via : Robbreport ]
