While tasting (and enjoying) the 2010 Oxford Landing Cabernet Sauvignon, I perused the flowery prose on the label but was most intrigued by the last sentence: "Vegan and vegetarian friendly." If you're wondering how meat or dairy is involved in your wine, it has to do with a clarification process called fining. (Winedefinintions.com has good overview of the process) You use a protein, such as egg whites or isinglass (aka fish bladder), to attract unwanted particles that could make a wine cloudy or affect its color. The goal of fining is to make a wine more stable, especially if it is exposed to heat. (Useful if you've ever left wine in the trunk of your car, but I know you've never done that on a hot day, right?) A clay, bentonite, is a popular alternative. This is not to say you're going to see a egg white or a fish bladder floating in your wine; these are removed, too, once their work is done. And you've got to think, considering the size of wine tanks, that there are negligible amounts of these fining agents that make it all the way to your glass. But I'm sure to many vegetarians and vegans it is a matter of principle and, if animal products are being used in the process of making wine, that needs to be disclosed. A brief side-note on fining: there are many winemakers who find the process anathema. While fining (and filtering) remove unwanted particles from wine, many feel something important is also fined and filtered out: flavor. You'll see a lot of bottles proudly displaying "Unfined and Unfiltered" on the label; you'll either have to decant the bottle or keep it upright and pour carefully when you get close to the bottom. Interestingly, Australia's wine labeling law for the internal market mandates that if dairy is involved in the processing of wine, it must be noted. This diagram of a wine label shows a "Produced With Milk Products" notice. And while certainly there is a marketing aspect involved with noting your wine is vegan and vegetarian friendly, I think the more information you get on a label about what's in the bottle, the better. A couple other things to like about Oxford Landing:

• They respond to your queries on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/#!/OxfordLanding/status/60525640901865472

• If the battery on your smart phone dies, they have the tear-off tag to remember the wine.

Oh, I guess I should tell you how it tastes. Quite good and a bargain for under $10! Breaks the stereotype of "fruit bomb" Aussie reds. It's medium-bodied and easy-going. Very versatile! A worthy red to pull from your quiver of available daily drinkers. I'll be looking out for more wineries who are highlighting their vegan- and vegetarian-friendliness and would love to hear from more wineries who are doing so. In the meantime, Barnivore is a good resource. Are you interested in seeing more rigorous wine labeling?