Most people assume wine is naturally vegan. It's not — but ours is. Here's what goes into a bottle of honest, minimal intervention wine, and why we choose to leave it unfiltered.
Wait — wine isn't vegan?
It surprises a lot of people. Grapes are vegan. Fermentation is vegan. But the step that happens in between — fining — often isn't.
Fining is the process of clarifying wine: removing proteins, tannins, and other particles that can make a wine look hazy or taste rough. Traditionally, winemakers have used animal-derived fining agents to do this job. Common ones include:
- Isinglass — derived from dried fish bladders
- Casein — a milk protein
- Egg whites (albumin) — used particularly in red wine production
- Gelatin — derived from animal bones and skin
These agents bind to the unwanted particles and drop them out of the wine before bottling. They're not present in the finished wine in any meaningful quantity — but they were used, and for many vegans and those with dietary sensitivities, that matters.
What we do instead
At Hunter Wine Lab, we use organic fining products — plant-based and mineral alternatives that do the same job without any animal involvement. This isn't a recent change or a marketing decision. It's simply how we've always worked, because it aligns with our broader philosophy: work with nature, not against it.
The result is that the majority of our wines are suitable for vegans — and we're proud to say so clearly on every product that qualifies.
So why leave it unfiltered?
Here's where it gets interesting. Even after fining, many winemakers take an extra step: filtration. Wine is pushed through a fine membrane to remove any remaining particles and ensure a crystal-clear, shelf-stable product.
Filtration works. But it comes at a cost.
When you filter wine, you don't just remove the stuff you don't want — you also strip out some of what makes the wine alive: texture, mouthfeel, aromatic complexity, and the microscopic elements that allow a wine to continue developing in the bottle over time.
Think of it like the difference between fresh-pressed juice and the shelf-stable version. Both are juice. But one has more going on.
What to expect from an unfiltered wine
If you've never opened an unfiltered wine before, here's what you might notice:
- A slight haze — especially in whites and rosés. This is completely normal and not a flaw.
- Sediment — particularly in older reds. Stand the bottle upright for a day before opening, or decant gently.
- More texture — unfiltered wines often feel rounder and more complete on the palate.
- Greater complexity — the flavours tend to be more layered and expressive.
We think of it as the wine showing you who it really is.
No added acid. No added sugar. Just fruit.
Our commitment to minimal intervention goes beyond fining and filtration. We also don't add acid or sugar to our wines — two common practices in commercial winemaking used to correct imbalances or boost alcohol levels.
Instead, we rely on the quality of the fruit itself. The Hunter Valley is our home — a region with a winemaking history stretching back nearly 200 years, producing wines of genuine character and longevity. You'll find all the Hunter staples in our portfolio: Semillon, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Verdelho.
But we also make wines that excite and interest us. Fruit from cool-climate regions like Hilltops and Tumbarumba lets us explore varieties that thrive at altitude — the kinds of wines that don't fit neatly into a regional box but absolutely belong in our Lab. It's the same minimal intervention philosophy applied to different expressions of place.
When the fruit is right — wherever it's grown — you don't need to fix it.
Finding our natural wines
We've made it easy to find wines that match your values. Look for the vegan-friendly callout on individual product pages, or browse our Natural & Vegan-Friendly Wines collection to see everything in one place.
And if you want to go deeper into how we think about winemaking, our Winemaking Philosophy page covers it all — from open fermentation to heritage yeasts to our three founding pillars.
As always, if you have questions about a specific wine, we're happy to chat at the cellar door or via the contact page. Transparency is kind of our thing.
— The Hunter Wine Lab team