This low-alcohol wine can help you ease into 2022 resolutions

If you’re watching what you eat in the new year, don’t forget to watch what you drink as well. Because adult beverages do not carry nutrition labels, this is more easily said than done.

Luckily, there is one piece of information on any wine’s label that can help you count its calories: alcohol content. As long as you’re drinking dry styles of wine, you can use alcohol content alone to make a quick back-of-napkin calculation. In a standard five-ounce glass, every percentage point of alcohol will contribute approximately 10 calories. (Sweeter wines will contribute a few more calories to the total, but rarely more than 25% of the alcohol’s share.)

This delicate pinot grigio clocks in with only 80 calories per glass, a third below the norm, because it contains only 8% alcohol where many California wines can average 14%. There is a trade-off, of course.

Wines with lower alcohol can be lower in flavor intensity, because the main way to lower alcohol is to pick grapes early, before they’re fully ripe. This means that richer wine styles that need full ripeness for their flavor and heft, such as most red wines and heavier whites like chardonnay, can taste underdeveloped when made in a lo-cal manner. Lighter styles typically fare much better though, such as pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc, rosés, and sparkling wines. Because standard versions of these styles are made from early-harvested grapes, there is considerably less sacrifice of flavor when choosing a low-alcohol option.

This wine’s subtle flavors of lemons, white peaches, and green apples may be milder when compared to those of a standard California pinot grigio. But they’re still satisfying and wholesome, providing a balanced reflection of their grapes in a garden-fresh way.

$9.99 8% alcohol

PLCB Item #97073

Sale price through 1/30 — regularly $11.99

Also available at:

Canal’s Liquors in Pennsauken; $8.09, canalsliquors.com

Canal’s Bottlestop in Marlton; $8.09, canalswine.com

Williamstown Super Buy Rite in Williamstown; $8.99, williamstownbuyrite.com