Day by day No-Lo, reduced sugar is gaining traction, and the Zero Carbs, vegan-friendly Brits are coming. So, look out Stella Rosa Peach, Chateau Diane Zero, Ariel, and Cupcake Lighthearted.
UK’s ThinK Wine Group founder and Liverpudlian fizz fiend, Katherine Jones loved her flutes but hated putting on weight.
Since she couldn’t or wouldn’t cut out Prosecco from her daily diet and, after shuttling back and forth between Liverpool and Treviso in Italy, she came up with her own low calorie, organic, waistline-friendly, and proudly Skinny Prosecco.
Her wines, to be released in the US in September, happen to take on the quality premium health wine and the lo-likes of St Regis, Kim Crawford Illuminate, Sutter Home Fre Brut, and Waterbrook Clean.
“The clarification process is often what stops the wine from being vegan. Animal products like fish intestines are used. Our wines use peas! they are 100% plant-based. Guilt-free bubbly!
“I wanted to create a drink that people would be able to enjoy but was also better for them with the reduced sugar. And not compromise on taste and quality. The fact that ThinK Wine Group wine is 0-carb means that people on a keto diet often purchase it. I created the wines for me, knowing that if no one ever purchased them I would happily get through the lot myself! Eventually!”
We are continually being advised to re-think our wine pairings. And consider what wines pair well with our weight loss goals, go best with our waistline circumference and complement our body silhouettes.
One of the great pleasures of summer is lazing on a lounger poolside or swinging in a hammock on a beach, catching up on the most recent national obesity reports and latest gripping cardiovascular health articles. And reading things like “drinking four bottles of wine a month adds up to a yearly consumption of around 27,000kcal, which is equivalent to eating 48 Big Macs per year”
And that scientists in Brazil and Spain have again confirmed that wine consumption – especially red and at meal-times, is good for you, has protective effects, and reduced cardiovascular risks. We are increasingly urged to think about what wine brings out not only the best of the food we eat but also the scales we stand on. Soon sommeliers will be advising us to choose something which will go well with our body mass index. You can’t go wrong with polyphenols.
But it’s not all about going all skinny, and going on a strict de-alcoholized wine or crash Weight Watchers Cense wine diet. It’s being aware of all the options available. And finding great low calories wines which are still wines that retain their soul, integrity, and flavor. A have not been emasculated or castrated. They still taste like wine. And good wine. Not just a fruit-based carbonated drink with no mouthfeel.
The classy Cut-Back Culture template is John and Brigid Forrest’s Doctor’s Range and their superb Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc which is the fruit of scientifically controlled leaf growth and slowing the grape plant’s ability to make sugar but not its ability to make the flavor. No genetic engineering is involved. Just sustainably grown, naturally produced lower alcohol wine. At 9.5%.
New Zealand’s Brancott Estate launched its low-cal wine in 2014. The wines contain calories at least 20% less than the standardized versions. Every 148ml serving contains 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 Flight Song range includes a Marlborough Pinot Grigio.
Other excellent easy-drinking lo-wines include Albarino, Txakolis, Austrian Zweigelts. German Kabinett Reislings and Flor d’Arnancio – Moscato d’Asti’s Venetian sister.
There are many lo-Prosecco about and almost sin-free, zero dosage brut natures champagnes like Laurent-Perrier’s Ultra Brut.
It’s easy to get hung up on sugar. But it’s’ worth remembering that each gram of alcohol contains seven calories and therefore a standard-sized glass of wine typically contains about 130 calories. Choosing the right wine is all now all about thermogenesis and improving gut microbial. The drier the wine the fewer sugar levels and fewer calories to burn off. Putting in cool-climate wines
ThinK Wine Group has partnered with a highly regarded, vegan, and organic vineyard in Treviso near Venice to produce 11%, 62k calories per glass sparkling wines – ThinK Prosecco and ThinK Pinot Grigio, Sparkling Rose. Both have calories approximately 40% less than standard dry.
“Why should people have to compromise on taste to live a healthier lifestyle? It took two years of extensive research to find the right vineyard, one which matched the ethical values of the company, and, in 2019, we launched.”
Katherine, 31, from Aigburth is director of both ThinK Wine Group and We Are Social Nation, a celebrity/influencer marketing and digital marketing agency. “I was attending lots of events and celeb parties. I’d go to the opening of an envelope. I piled it on and asked myself: How can attend these functions without feeling guilty?
The organic method of wine production focuses on creating a balanced environment that allows bugs and plants (the vines and grapes) to coexist without harming each other. Chemicals used in a non-organic winery are strong enough to kill animals such as birds.
“The soil of our vineyard is made predominantly of gravels and this gives the wines an additional hint of minerality that invites the second glass. The technology and expertise that our winery has are second to none.”
Katherine, who is an international business management graduate and has interned in sales for companies in America and China, also worked for Enterprise-Rent-A-Car. “I was at a weight loss boot camp and met a woman who is an investment banker. We got talking and she likes the idea and provided a start-up loan. I did a lot of wine tasting before finding a family-run winery that happened to be vegan.
“Lockdown was the best thing that could have happened in terms of the business. People were at home and wanted to drink but be mindful of living a healthy lifestyle and our sales exploded through the website. My house was filled with bottles because I was packing the wine from home.”
Influencers like Charlotte Dawson, the Cheshire Housewives, plus former Love Islanders Katie Salmon, Mollie Smith, and Tyne-Lexy Clarkson have helped to promote the ThinK range
Katherine could also become a celebrity herself, having been invited to star in a new Amazon Prime reality show, The Social Movement, that brings together CEOs and entrepreneurs from around the world who are given four days to change the world through philanthropy.
Explains Katherine: “The leaders will be challenged to create a team and come up with a financially viable business model that is going to solve issues including inequality, access to health care, global warming, hunger, and support for homeless people.
“I was hesitant at first as I wasn’t camera-ready! But I thought I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk about my own product in front of these billionaires!”
Katherine is due to film the show in Miami. Coronavirus permitting.
