Wines with a low ABV% (alcohol by volume) are gaining in popularity with the aperitif connoisseurs and cognoscenti because of their calorific content. As you might be aware consuming beverages or food items that contain a minimal amount of calories help you to keep yourself fit and trim. Every year, most of us take a stand to shed the excess kilos that we put on during the holidays starting from Christmas that lasts till the first week of the New Year when we tend relish on a banquet almost every two days.
Honoring the resolutions would become simpler if you stick to drinking low-calorie wines. Wines with a lower alcoholic percentage are usually brewed from grapes that are moderately sweet. Though there is no prescribed industry standard, low-calorific wines tend to be 15% less calories compared to the 120-130 calories brimming in an aperitif measuring five ounces.
Interesting Things about Low-Calorie Wines
Instead of depriving yourself of the pleasures of good life by completely refraining from quaffing goblets of liquors with your meal servings, you could have it easy by imbibing low-calorie white wines, sparkling wines, and even red wines. Here are some engaging and surprising facts about low-calorie wines:-
- Depending upon the presence of sugar in wine grapes, low-calorie wines usually have 92-120 calories per 148 ml of the beverage
- Wines with the lowest or least ABV% content are known as dry wines-the ABV varies from 9%-12%
- A few low-cal wines have ABV as low as 5.5% for instance the Moscato d’Asti
- Dry wines have the least sugar calories; 0-6
- The sweetest low calorie wines contain 72-130 sugar calories
- Grapes with a relatively low degree of sweetness are used in brewing low-calorie wines
- Grapes low on sweetness thrive mainly in colder climes
- Alcohol and sugar are the two ingredients that contribute the maximum calories to alcoholic beverages
Top 10 Low-Calorie Wine Brands in the World [year_shortcode]:
1. Jacob’s Creek Cool Harvest
Jacob’s Creek Cool Harvest Range hit the markets in 2012 by Pernord Ricard, the owner of the brand. Grapes used for fermenting Jacob’s Creek are harvested at midnight so that the pure and fresh flavors can be captured. This is a white wine of Sauvignon Blanc variety that originated in Australia and has a light yet crispy zest to it. Every 120ml serving contains 100 calories and the alcohol content is 10.5% ABV.
Brand owner-Pernord Ricard
2. Skinny Girl
The noted author, chef, TV star and businesswoman, Bethenny Frankel launched a margarita under the brand name Skinnygirl Cocktails kick started the launching of a plethora of low-calorie wines. All three Skinny Girl low-cal wines, ‘California White Blend’, ‘Rose Blend’ and ‘Red Blend’ contain only 100 calories per 148ml of serving with a 12% ABV alcohol content. The Skinny Girl Cocktails brand was bought out by premium spirits conglomerate Beam Inc. in 201 for a whopping US$8.1million. The wine has a mellow flavor with a sweetness that is very natural.
Brand Owner: Beam Inc
3. Brancott Estate Flight Song Range
Brancott Estate located in Marlborough region of New Zealand, launched its low-cal range of wines in 2014. Painstaking research stretching to nearly a decade at the Marlborough winery was conducted before launching the wines. The wines contain calories that are at least 20% less than the standardized versions. Every 148ml serving contain 88 calories and the alcohol content is 9% ABV. The grapes are picked while they are still somewhat raw which ensures that the sugar levels are lower translating into fewer calories every serving. The range includes a Marlborough Pinot Grigio and a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
Brand Owner: Brancott Estate
4. The Light Grape
The Light Grape was first bottled by Accolade Wines in the US and has distinctive flavors reminiscent of blackberries, dark chocolate, and cherries. The calorie content is only 148ml for every serving of 148ml that is much less than that of its arch rival. Light Grape is available in four varieties-a Chardonnay, rose blend, red blend, and a white blend. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV.
5. Weight Watchers
The Weight Watchers’ low-calorie wine named ‘Cense’ will help you to keep a tab on your calorie intake. Weight Watchers, a firm whose core business is promoting weight loss products collaborated with brewer, Truett-Hurst for coming up with a range of low cal wines. The first in the line of offerings is Sauvignon Blanc that contains 85 calories for every 5 ounces or 148 ml serving and an 8.5% ABV. Bottling was done in 2016 in the brewer’s Marlborough winery in New Zealand and the best grade of Sauvignon Blanc grapes was used.
6. Mateus Light
Mateus, the Portugal based brewer founded by Miguel Pessanha came up with a variety of low alcohol (read low calorie) wines in 2014 in June. The latest offerings from the Portuguese spirit powerhouse including a white wine, sparkling rose, and a still rose all have an alcohol content of 5.5%ABV. The range unveiled at ‘The London Wine Fair’ targets connoisseurs and sommeliers that are looking for alcoholic beverages low on alcohol but does not sacrifice character or flavor. The calorie content is extremely low, about 44 calories per 100ml of serving.
7. Banrock Station Light
Accolade Wines, launched a low-calorie version of its famed ‘Banrock Station Light’ in 2011 in order to cash in on the rapidly expanding market for beverages with low alcoholic content. ‘Banrock Station’ is one of the most popular wines from the Accolade Wines’ stable that witnessed a 1995 launching. Back in 2011, Accolade Wines initiated a £1 million promotional campaign to popularize Banrock Station Wine amongst health-conscious drinkers. ‘Banrock Station Light’ range presently includes a ‘Chardonnay’ and ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ with a 5.5%ABV and calorie content varying from 56-60 calories per 125ml serving.
8. Torres Natureo de-alcoholised Muscat
Spanish winegrower, Torres launched a unique low-calorie wine-‘Torres Natureo de-alcoholised Muscat’ in 2008. The uniqueness of this wine was that its alcoholic content was almost nil-just 0.5%ABV which at the same time implied that the calorific content was minimal at only 19 calories per 100ml of serving.
9. The Skinny Vine
Treasury Wine Estates came up with three variations of ‘The Skinny Vine’-‘Thin Zin’, ‘Mini Moscato’, and ‘Slim Chardonnay’ in 2013. The grapes used in these wines have been sourced from the vineyards in California. These low calorie wines are preferred by US wine drinkers who are conscious of their calorie intake.
10. Cremant De Bourgogne
The Cremant De Bourgogne is brewed by Domaine La Croix Montjoie in Burgundy and tastes surprisingly similar to Champagne. Blended using Aligote, Gamay, and Pinot Noir grapes these spice up the flavors of the wine. Alcohol content is 12% ABV and 86 calories in a 102ml serving.