Choosing a bottle of wine is tricky if you are following a vegan diet, which is completely plant-based and excludes even foods and drinks that have been processed using anything that comes from animals.

Not all wines are fit for vegans because of the way they are clarified and stabilised, and particularly fined.

Fining is a winemaking technique to prevent a wine from looking hazy or tasting too bitter. The used materials, or so-called fining agents, don’t have to be animal-based though they often are.

The issue is that for vegans, and other consumers, it’s hard to tell because there’s hardly ever any reference on the bottle’s label.

But fear not. On the local front, the Delicata winery makes it really easy.

While the winery doesn’t advocate any ethical food choices in particular, Malta’s award-winning winemaker acknowledges that the vegan diet has entered mainstream and therefore uses standard practices other than animal-derived fining agents.

In fact, the entire award-winning portfolio of Delicata quality wines made from locally grown grapes can be enjoyed without worry by vegans and vegetarians.

The brands of which all wines are vegan are: Pjazza Regina, Medina, Victoria Heights, Grand Vin de Hauteville, Gran Cavalier and the Frizzantes. Delicata gives you absolute peace of mind.

For easy reference, just look for the banderol or the wine’s official appellation on the bottle’s label. Your Delicata wine is vegan when the banderol or label of any of the winery’s wines of the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages reads DOK Malta, DOK Gozo or IGT Maltese Islands.

Here’s a recommended shortlist, or aide-mémoire, of six wines which span various styles for different occasions when dining out or entertaining at home. Apart from being vegan-friendly, they are actually a great choice for any discerning wine drinker.

They are Gran Cavalier Sauvignon Blanc, Malta’s quality varietal expression of the grape; Grand Vin de Hauteville Chardonnay, a fine white palate pleaser; Ġellewża Frizzante, a lip-smacking off-dry semi-sparkling rosé; Victoria Heights Syrah Rosé, a seriously tasty pink from Gozo; Medina Syrah Carignan Mourvèdre, a low-tannin, youthful red blend; and Gran Cavalier Syrah Riżerva, a complex cask and bottle-aged red.

Georges Meekers is Delicata’s Head of Marketing and an award-winning wine writer.