Sterling Vineyards is NOT vegan friendly

Address: 1111 Dunaweal Lane
Calistoga, California, 94515
USA
Phone: (800) 726-6136, option 1
Fax:
Email: sterlinghelp@sterlingvineyards.com
URL: http://www.sterlingvineyards.com/
Checked by: Darryl
Double checked by: Laurie, Valerie, Robin, Barry
Added: over 13 years ago
Double Checked: about 6 years ago

Products by Sterling Vineyards:

Company email (January 2018)
"Vegetarians or vegans should use caution when choosing our red wines due to the possibility that it may have been clarified with fining agents such as egg albumin, casein (from milk), gelatin, and isinglass (from fish)."

Company email (May 2017):
"We would love to see you for a tour and tasting but out wines are not vegan."

Company email (May 2014):
"I am not sure where the website you mentioned obtained this information, but we cannot officially guarantee that any of our wines vegan."

Company email (December 2012):
[My husband and I are fans of red wines such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, and we are also vegan. According to the online directory (whose information is currently more than a year old), your red wines are "usually" fined with eggs, and I'm wondering if this is still the case.]
"Yes, that is still the case here at Sterling. As you mentioned, we do use a fining agents which include, casein (milk protein), isinglass and gelatin."

Company email:
"From our Winemaking Team:
The 2009 Pinot Gris and 2009 Viognier were not fined with Isinglass at all. All the white wines are fined with bentonite, a clay that possesses a charge that can remove unstable proteins from a wine to ensure clarity in bottle. As far as I am aware, this material is perfectly vegan-friendly, being an earth product with minimal processing. It may warrant some extra research though, just in case any bentonite purification agents may contain materials that may not conform to vegans' acceptance.

Our Sterling Vintner’s Collection: No animal products used.

Our red wines are usually fined with eggs, and some of our whites are fined with isinglass. "