Discover Vegan Wine Tasting in San Luis Obispo

📍 Located just outside downtown San Luis Obispo, Croma Vera Wines offers a 100% vegan-friendly wine tasting experience. You can enjoy five vegan wines or pair the wines with carefully curated (and delicious) vegan options. All of Croma Vera’s wines are 100% vegan.

🌱 Whether you're looking for vegan wines or the perfect vegan wine pairing, our tasting room provides a delicious, friendly, and ethical way to explore the world of Spanish-style wines from California’s Central Coast.

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Vegan Wine & Food Pairing Menu

Pairing plant-based foods with Croma Vera Wines enhances the tasting experience. We offer a vegan wine pairing menu designed to pair with Croma Vera’s wines. We have curated four vegan pairings to enhance the wines on our tasting menu.

Vegan Wine & Pairing Menu

• Albariño with Anna and Sarah's vegan dried fruit mix
• Grenache with Good Planet’s vegan smoked gouda
• Tempranillo and/or Revelación red blend with Whole Food’s organic roasted almonds
• Cabernet Sauvignon or Graciano with Mama Ganache’s vegan raspberry truffle

Whether you're fully plant-based or simply curious about vegan wine and food pairings, our tasting experience celebrates sustainable, ethical, and delicious choices—without sacrificing flavor.

Join us in San Luis Obispo for a one-of-a-kind vegan wine tasting experience.

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What Is Vegan Wine?

Many people are surprised to learn that not all wine is vegan. While wine is made from grapes, the winemaking process often involves a step called fining, where certain substances—sometimes animal-derived—are used to clarify and polish the wine.

What is Fining, and Why is it Done?

Fining is a process winemakers use to remove tiny particles from wine that can make it appear cloudy or affect its texture and taste. These particles include:

• Proteins that can create haze in white wines
• Excess tannins that can make red wines too astringent or grippy
• Yeast and grape solids left over from fermentation

Although these particles are harmless, some winemakers prefer to speed up the natural settling process and make the wine clearer, smoother, and more stable before bottling.

Non-Vegan Fining Agents

For centuries, winemakers have used animal-derived fining agents to help with this clarification process. The primary animal-derived fining agents include:

• Egg whites (albumin) – Used to soften harsh tannins in red wines
• Fish bladder (isinglass) – Commonly used to clarify and soften white wines
• Casein (milk protein) – Helps remove unwanted browning in wines
• Gelatin (from animal collagen) – Used to fine-tune texture and tannin balance

These substances bind to the unwanted particles, making them heavy enough to sink to the bottom of the barrel or tank. The wine is then carefully racked (separated) from the sediment, leaving it clearer and more polished.

Fun Fact: In Bordeaux, using egg whites was so common winemakers used to deliver the unused egg yolks to local bakeries. Pastry chefs had to get creative and the Canelé was born.  Now, you can find Canelés (a small French pastry flavored with rum and vanilla) on nearly every corner and at every restaurant in Bordeaux.

Vegan-Friendly Fining Alternatives

At Croma Vera Wines, we use only a mineral-based fining agent and time, ensuring our wines are 100% vegan. Instead of animal products, we rely on:

• Bentonite clay – A natural clay that binds to proteins and helps to make the wine heat stable.
• Time and gravity – For our red wines, we allow natural sedimentation to occur over time, letting the particles settle on their own. 
  

Photo: Bentonite clay is a natural mineral used in vegan winemaking. It helps clarify wine by binding to proteins—ensuring a clear, stable, and 100% plant-based final product.

Does Fining Affect the Taste of Wine?

Not directly. Fining agents are removed before bottling, meaning they don’t remain in the final wine. However, the choice of fining method can subtly impact the wine’s texture and mouthfeel. By using vegan-friendly techniques, we ensure that every bottle of Croma Vera wine stays true to its natural character—while being a choice that aligns with a more sustainable approach to winemaking.

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Not Just Vegan; Also Sustainable

Photo: Morro View Vineyard in Edna Valley, a certified SIP (Sustainability in Practice) Vineyard. We source Grenache from this sustainably farmed vineyard to craft our Grenache. 

Our commitment to vegan-friendly winemaking goes hand in hand with our dedication to sustainability. We believe that great wine should not only be free from animal-derived ingredients but also produced in a way that respects the land, supports biodiversity, and conserves natural resources.

That’s why we source our grapes from sustainably farmed vineyards whenever possible, ensuring that each bottle reflects not only the purity of the fruit but also a commitment to responsible agriculture. Many of the vineyards we work with have taken extra steps to become SIP Certified (Sustainability in Practice), a rigorous certification that ensures:

• Water conservation and healthy soil management
• Protection of local wildlife and ecosystems
• Social responsibility and fair treatment of workers
• Reduced use of synthetic pesticides and chemicals
  

By choosing Croma Vera Wines, you’re not only enjoying delicious, handcrafted vegan wines but also supporting a more sustainable future for winemaking.

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For more information on this topic, visit "Can Vegans Drink Wine?", by Madeline Puckette on Wine Folly.