- Lauren, the white lover - bright & bubbly, she will happily walk out of beer tasting to a bar across the street to get herself a glass of white.
- Nancy, the sweet & pink gal - I have been trying to get Nancy to drink other wines over the past couple months, but alas to no avail.
- Michelle, red & ready. Michelle can always be found drinking red's with our wine loving guy friends.
- Plus myself to mitigate in case things got ugly - although that's impossible with these ladies :)
Bethenny Frankel, of The Real Housewifes of New York Fame, lauched a line of pre-mixed cocktails & wines that all claim to be under 100 calories a glass. The Margarita mix, which took off in sorority circles across the country (and what I found to be less preferable than the saline water they use at the dentist when you have braces in middle school) lead the way for this new catagory of skinny & health centric alcoholic beverages. (They have to take the fun out everything don't they...)
Under review were her blended wines: a generic White Blend, Rose Blend, and Red Blend. The wines specifically are 100 calories for a 5 oz pour (Average Restaurant pours range from 4.5-6oz)
The Evidence:
While the idea of a WHOLE glass of wine for only the magical "100 calorie" mark may seem like a dream come true - the real truth is that most wines are only 110 calories for a 5oz pour. Below is a general breakdown:
- Dry Low-Regular Alcohol Whites & Reds: Wines like your Sauvignon Blancs, Pinots, Bordeaux, and Italian table wines are all going to only be 110 cal. / glass
- High Alcohol Reds: We all know alcohol levels are rising in hotter growing areas like California & Austrailia. Reds with alcohols above 14% like new world Syrahs & Zinfandels and some California Cabs will run you about 130 cal. / glass.
- Sweet Wines with Low Alcohol: In this catagory would be your Rieslings, some California Chards (oh you think they are dry, but many grocery story Chards have some residual sugar left), & Moscatos will have have about 130 - 150 cal./glass
- Dessert wines: Well these wines will stick you with a higher caloric bill having both sugar & alcohol and can stretch into the 200s for just a 4 oz pour.*
The Verdict:
White Blend: Overall, this was our top pick of the three, and to be honest, the only one really worth buying. An unknown white blend (I've look everywhere for what's in it - nothing), it focused on floral notes of lime blossom, white lilly, baby's breath, & honey suckle along with fruit notes like nectarine, kiwi, pineapple. Aka., it hit all the girly white wine marks... but I will grant that it was refreshing. Per our white wine judge Lauren: "Yeah, I'd drink that." Overall, this wine was made for coktail parties where little food is being served & unless you are sticking to your diet and are only eating a light summer salad for dinner - has nothing much to bring to the table. We gave it a solid 7/10
Rose: While it got Nancy's approval - it was tentative at best, & at its $13 dollar price point, she definitely said she would still just rather buy the $5 Sutter Home White Zinfandel version and forgo the caloric benefit. She's right. The Rose, while made with Nancy in mind, had to take away most of what girls like her enjoy in their wines, a smooth, lightly sweet treat. With the sugar down, the tannins of the light touch of grape skins appeared rougher then myself or Nancy prefered. 5/10
Red Blend: I knew this wine wouldn't pass muster with Lauren or Nancy, but Michelle wasn't having any of it either - and rightfully so. This wine was the definition of a "disjointed wine" : a wine whose fruit notes (typically tasted on the front of the palate) did not ever connect with the tannins on the back of the palate. Whereas all winemakers aim to have these two elements, along with acidity, walk together hand in hand like happy-go-lucky school girls, this wine definately just suffered a girl-fight. Notes of red fruit like rasberrys, strawberries, & red plum skin shot evil glances across the playground at the moca & tobacco flavors. At the end of the day ladies, only serve this red blend to the fatty who stole your boyfriend. 2/10 with make-up on.
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Overall, if you want to save 10 calories while at the same time spending more money - go ahead and get the SkinnyGirl wines. Me & my girls - we are just going to stick with doing a couple more lunges :)
*Note: I have had several individuals show me their fancy calorie counter apps which say that a glass of red table wine is up to 260 calories. Politely - BS. I have consulted a couple Master Sommeliers & very educated wine shop owners who all agree with the above caloric descriptions.
Red Blend: I knew this wine wouldn't pass muster with Lauren or Nancy, but Michelle wasn't having any of it either - and rightfully so. This wine was the definition of a "disjointed wine" : a wine whose fruit notes (typically tasted on the front of the palate) did not ever connect with the tannins on the back of the palate. Whereas all winemakers aim to have these two elements, along with acidity, walk together hand in hand like happy-go-lucky school girls, this wine definately just suffered a girl-fight. Notes of red fruit like rasberrys, strawberries, & red plum skin shot evil glances across the playground at the moca & tobacco flavors. At the end of the day ladies, only serve this red blend to the fatty who stole your boyfriend. 2/10 with make-up on.
---
Overall, if you want to save 10 calories while at the same time spending more money - go ahead and get the SkinnyGirl wines. Me & my girls - we are just going to stick with doing a couple more lunges :)
*Note: I have had several individuals show me their fancy calorie counter apps which say that a glass of red table wine is up to 260 calories. Politely - BS. I have consulted a couple Master Sommeliers & very educated wine shop owners who all agree with the above caloric descriptions.
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