Whether it is because of ethics, the love of animals, because it is fashionable, or for health reasons, veganism has been on the rise in our country in recent years. For some time, many of you have been asking us whether Albet i Noya makes vegan wines. And our answer has always been the same: yes! But there must also be many of you who are wondering whether wine (made from grapes) could possibly NOT BE suitable for vegans or vegetarians? And the answer is the same: yes!

During the process of making wine, there is a point at which, to clarify it (this is filtering the wine to get rid of impurities or sediments and to improve its limpidity), animal products can be used, like egg whites, fishtails, or casein (which comes from milk). In the olden days, using the blood from bulls was very popular for doing this.

At Albet i Noya we use a mineral (Bentonite) for the clarification process on our white and sparkling wines.  With our red wines, if we clarify them, we do it with potato protein. This way we can guarantee that there are no traces of animal products and that our wines are suitable for vegans. Since 2018, seeing the growing market demand, we have been putting this on the labels of all our wines.

Veganism in Albet i Noya’s history

In fact, Josep Maria Albet was a vegetarian in his youth, and this made him an ideal candidate for starting out on the adventure of making organic wines. It was 1978 when the council regulating the Penedès DO got a fax from a Danish company asking about a maker of organic wine. At that time, everyone coincided in saying “this is for you, since you’re a vegetarian!!!”.

At that time, when the word “organic” was just about as unheard-of as the concept of vegetarianism, Josep Maria Albet started to look into the subject. And it was like this, a combination of curiosity and coincidence, that Albet i Noya became the first organic winemaker in Spain.

Visits to the winery and tastings for vegans

And if you come to visit us and you are a vegan, let us know, because we also have vegan choices for you. At our wine bar you can find products like vegan cheeses and pâtés, and other items that are not of animal origin, which will make your experience 100% satisfactory.