Flagstone Wine is 100% Vegan
It’s perfectly reasonable to think that wine is inherently vegan. After all, the delicious stuff is made from pressing and fermenting grapes. But, like the magician who doesn’t reveal a trick, wine labels tend not to elaborate on the ingredients that go into the production.
Once the magic of fermentation has occurred, natural by-products in the form of molecules are present in the wine, these can be in the form of phenolics, tartrates or tannins. While completely harmless to consumers, they do render a cloudy liquid and can influence the taste structure of the wine.
These molecules are extracted using fining agents. Traditionally, fining agents are animal products in the form of isinglass, gelatin, albumin or casein and are removed from the final product along with the particles.
As a WIETA accredited winery, Flagstone places a commitment to sustainability at the heart of how our wine is produced. Responding to our consumers, who rightfully demand transparency and accountability, continues to shape our progress as a winery. Embracing a vegan-centred approach is a distinct move to ensure our wine is a bottle of joy that treads lightly on the planet and seeks to do no harm.
Since 2019 Flagstone has removed the use of all animal-based fining agents and instead we now use plant-based fining agents in the form of pea and potato protein to produce our wines. This has been wonderful evolution for us as winemakers and we believe the wines we are producing continue to be polished and exceptional.
The 2019 Vintage of Free Run Sauvignon Blanc is our First Core-Range Vegan Wine
Free Run is made from the juice that runs freely from the press to produce an exceptional wine, crisp and fresh, but lingering.
Great wine starts in the vineyard, we source our cool-climate grapes from Walker Bay, near Africa’s most southern tip, and from Elgin where the vineyards are producing outstanding fruit.
The creation of a top-class Sauvignon Blanc is a very technical process and requires precise and careful handling all through the undertaking to produce a balanced, crisp white wine with an ethereal aroma and those sought after long, luscious flavours.
The 2019 vintage was a tricky one, characterised by uneven ripening in the vineyards. This required a herculean effort in the vineyard, dropping bunches that were lagging behind the 80% veraison, coupled with meticulous bunch and berry sorting on the table.
Fortunately, the uneven ripening favoured the Sauvignon Blanc harvest. This variety has an inherent herbaceous flavour compound called methoxypyrazines, cooler regions produce higher amounts of this compound. The other predominant flavour compound is called thiols and is responsible for the more tropical fruit flavours. As Sauvignon Blanc ripens, methoxypyrazines decline. To appropriate this compound we harvest parts of the Sauvignon Blanc block early, and the rest of the block later to achieve the more tropical aromas. 2019 gifted us two harvests in one and delivered particularly complex and aromatic wines.
“Each year we’re provided with an opportunity to reflect the wonderful complexity that goes into a vintage, from terroir and soil to climate and weather. Every year the journey is different, every year it’s a challenge and every year there’s an immense reward in combining our skill and creativity to produce Flagstone Sauvignon Blanc,” says Gerhard Swart, Flagstone’s Head Winemaker.
On the palate, Free Run Sauvignon blanc displays layers of fruit complexity with aromas of asparagus, green fig, citrus, passion fruit as well as a hint of guava on the nose. This wine is full-bodied with vibrant acidity and great length – classy, complex and complete!
