Black Box wines are a refreshing sip at only 70 calories a glass

Last week, we explained that a growing number of wine drinkers are seeking to limit their alcohol intake and one of the ways vintners are meeting that demand. We will continue to explore lower-alcohol options in the coming weeks, which brings us to this new low-calorie product line from a leader in premium three-liter box wines. The Brilliant Collection from Black Box includes three varietals at a remarkably low 6.5% alcohol and 70 calories per serving. Of these, this pinot grigio is by far the most enjoyable. In many ways, it tastes and feels more like a wine spritzer made with flavored seltzer than a standard glass of wine – minus the bubbles.

Launched in 2003, Black Box was a great success as the first to market premium box wines that were labelled for their grape variety and contained the equivalent of four standard bottles. They gambled, correctly, that American wine drinkers were ready to shed some assumptions that decent wine could only come with the romance of a bottle and cork. Twenty years later, this new “Brilliant” line from Black Box challenges a different deeply held belief that decent wines can only be made with 100% pure grape juice.

There are only two ways for winemakers to cut a dry wine’s alcohol by half – you can add water or strip out the alcohol — both of which dramatically dilute wine’s flavor. Black Box fills that taste gap with natural flavors and is betting that the desire for lower calories will outweigh the negative perception of drinking a “flavored” wine. They may well be right once again because this pinot grigio is quite refreshing and surprisingly well-balanced. It may not pass for a standard pinot grigio in a blind tasting but is a pleasant tipple nonetheless, one that tastes like a white sangria made with honeydew melons, apples, and pears and diluted with chamomile tea.

$20.89; 6.5% alcohol

PLCB Item #97795

Sale price through Aug. 27 — regularly $23.89

Also available at:

Total Wine & More in Wilmington and Claymont, Del., $18.99, totalwine.com; Roger Wilco in Pennsauken, $19.98, rwilco.com; and Wine Warehouse in Sicklerville, $19.99, sicklerville.winewarehousenj.com.