Great news! many popular champagne houses are going 100% vegan! However, not all champagne is vegan-friendly. It’s not that champagne contains any animal products. The controversy revolves mainly around the way it’s refined—more specifically, the clarifying agents that are used for this process.

There are many animal-derived clarifying/filtering agents, and for ages, wineries and champagne houses have traditionally employed them to help rid their final product of any unpleasant insoluble grape matter, dead yeast cells, and bacterial residue. These filtering agents include isinglass (fish bladder), gelatin (boiled down animal skin, bone, and connective tissue), casein (the main protein in dairy milk), and even egg whites!

Luckily, in recent years, many of these same wine and champagne brands have begun to make the switch from unnecessary animal-derived filtering agents, to cruelty-free mineral/plant-based agents like charcoal, silica gel, and kaolin clay. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to identify which champagne bottles are vegan, and which are not, since this information may not always appear on the product label.

If you want to know which champagne houses have gone cruelty-free and vegan, check out our vegan champagne recommendations here. Thanks for seeking animal welfare and looking after our planet! Good luck on your vegan journey!

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