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According to Google trends, interest in 'veganism' increased seven-fold in the past five years. The popularity of this special diet and lifestyle rises with our increased focus on health, wellness and sustainability. In their latest bulletin dealing with current trends in wine markets, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (organizers of the leading European wine competition) highlighted the growing tendency of customers taking health related issues into consideration when choosing wines.

The Collins English Dictionary defines vegan as “a person who refrains from using any animal product whatever for food, clothing or any other purpose.” Wine, one would think, is perfectly suitable for vegans as it is made from grapes and yeast. Surprisingly enough, this is not always the case. So, why aren’t all wines vegan? Árpád Varga, winemaker of the Gedeon Winery is quick to answer: “It is true that wine is made from grapes, however the process of winemaking can involve the use of animal-derived materials which in the case of traditional winemaking are related to the clarification, fining and stabilization of must. The list of fining agents includes casein, egg white, isinglass, gelatin, etc.” According to him, these agents can be perfectly replaced by plant-derived materials. This is how Gedeon Winery has been making wines for the past two years. “This is not a question of expenses or convenience; it is a direct consequence of our embrace of the principles of veganism.”

At the official launch of the Gedeon wines, Dóra Pászti-Nagy, the winery’s Sales Manager said, “First, it was our top Western European partners who suggested that vegan products would be a welcome addition to our portfolio. Soon enough, we started noticing how fast the idea of veganism was catching on, in Hungary. This was when we decided to stop using animal-derived agents in our winemaking process, hoping that by doing so we could enrich the culinary options of vegan people by offering them wines they can consume without giving up their principles.” Gedeon covers the whole spectrum of wine products: sparkling wines, whites, rosés and reds. The winery also produces little known and seldom bottled varieties such as Arany Sárfehér and Kövidinka, which are traditional in the Great Hungarian Plain where the winery is located.