Edible Ottawa

The Thing about Vegan Wines

• Photo by Ash Nayler

  Assistant winemaker Spencer Mayer (left) and Barnett (right) favour low-intervention methods and rely heavily on their palates to make wine. Vegan wine can be more challenging because there are fewer options for correcting mistakes — you have to "get it right the first time," Mayer says.

• Karlo Estates is the only winery in Ontario certified by VegeCert, one of the leading vegan certification bodies in Canada, which audits its winemaking process regularly. The winery goes the extra mile to ensure all supplies used, including corks and wine labels, are animal-free.

• Derek Barnett, top right, head winemaker at Karlo Estates winery in Wellington, Prince Edward County, shows us a handful of bentonite clay — one vegan option used in place of animal-derived products to filter wine during the fining stage, making a wine crystal clear.

• Karlo Estates sits just north of the town of Wellington in Prince Edward County.

• Sherry Karlo (left), owner of Karlo Estates, and her partner, Saxe Brickenden (right) sit at the winery's tasting bar, housed in a refurbished barn believed to date back to the 1880s.