Discerning Drinkers’ Guide to Low-Calorie Wine

Curious about low-calorie wine that still tastes great? You’re not alone. As more wine enthusiasts look to moderate their alcohol and sugar intake, low-alcohol wines are stepping into the spotlight — not as a compromise, but as a smart, flavorful choice.

How Many Calories Are in a Glass of Wine?

The number of calories in your wine glass mostly depends on two things: alcohol and residual sugar.

Based on average grape must weights (the sugar level in wine grapes), low-calorie wines have about 92-120 calories per 5 oz (148 ml) glass. If you give yourself a larger 6 oz pour (177 ml), the calorie count jumps up to 110-144.
 

The lowest alcohol dry wines range from 9-12% alcohol by volume (ABV). Some wines have less alcohol, such as Moscato d’Asti at 5.5% ABV, but they are also much sweeter.

Let’s break it down by style, starting with white wines that deliver crisp refreshment and keep calories in check.

Classic Low-Alcohol White Wines

90-95 Calories

Kabinett Riesling: The word ‘Kabinett’ is a quality level for Riesling in Germany that is determined by the sweetness of the grapes at harvest. Many of these wines will taste sweet with only about 8% ABV.

Gruner Veltliner Qualitätswein: ‘Qualitätswein’ is an Austrian quality designation for minimum grape sweetness. Look for wines with 9-10% ABV. These wines fall under the Klassik (Classic) style and not Reserve.

Alsace Blanc: The basic ‘blanc’ category in Alsace, France makes everything from Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Muscat, and Sylvaner. They should be close to 9-10% ABV.

Muscadet: Muscadet is an appellation in France that produces a Pinot Grigio-like wine with the Melon de Bourgogne grape. Muscadet is a great dry and low-alcohol wine at 9.5%. “Sur Lie” has a higher alcohol level.

Pinot Grigio from Trento, Italy: Grown in the cool alpine foothills of northern Italy, Trentino Pinot Grigio offers crisp flavors and naturally low alcohol, often under 11% ABV, making it a refreshing pick for calorie-conscious sipping.

100-105 Calories

Bourgogne Blanc: Chardonnay from Chablis and Bourgogne Blanc will be around 10.5% ABV.

Bordeaux Blanc (Sec): Bordeaux produces Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blends and you’ll find them around 10.5% ABV. ‘Sec’ means dry.

Piedmont Gavi: Gavi is the name of the region in Piemont that primarily uses the Cortese grape. You’ll find these light and refreshing at close to 10.5% ABV.

Red wine lovers, don’t worry. There are great options here too.

Classic Low-Alcohol Red Wines

105-110 Calories

Bourgogne Rouge and Beaujolais: A basic bottle of the regional Bourgogne Rouge or Beaujolais will clock in just around 10.5% alcohol. These are some of the lowest calorie red wines we could find.

110-120 Calories

Bordeaux Rouge: These wines are made with Merlot and the other Bordeaux red varieties. Bordeaux is slightly warmer so the grapes get sweeter, making the wines around 10.5-11% ABV.

Alto Adige Reds: In Northern Italy, there is one tiny region producing Cabernet Sauvignon, Lagrein, and Pinot Nero from Alto Adige, all with about 11.5% alcohol.

Lambrusco Secco: If you like red wine in the summer you might like a Dry Lambrusco (Secco). The off-dry style called ‘Semisecco’ has about 20 more calories. The most popular Lambrusco sold in America, Riunite, is much sweeter with close to 150 calories.

How Many Calories Does Residual Sugar Add to Wine?

Alcohol isn’t the only source of calories in wine. Let’s talk about sugar.

Residual sugar is when not all the grape sugar is converted to alcohol.

• Dry Wines have 0-6 sugar calories. (aka Sec, Secco, Sekt)
• Off-Dry Wines have 10-30 sugar calories. (aka Demi Sec, Semisecco, Abboccato)
• Sweet Wines have 30-72 sugar calories. (aka Doux, Dolce, Amabile)
• Very Sweet Wines have 72-130 sugar calories. (aka Dulce)

Why Do Some Regions Produce Lower Calorie Wines Than Others?

The trick to finding these wines is understanding a basic concept about agriculture: the cooler the climate, the less sweet the grapes are when ripe. This is the fundamental concept behind why a Malbec from France tastes so different than one from Mendoza, Argentina.

How the Heck Did You Come up With These Numbers?

We determined the average alcohol of these regional wines by looking up regional classifications on minimum must weight at harvest. Must weight is just jargon for how much sweetness a grape has at harvest. After figuring out the must weights, we ran a simple calculation:

Must Weight (in grams/liter) x Pour Size (.148 Liters) x 4 (calories in a gram of sugar) = Calories
 

These numbers are based on estimates and will change depending on the specific wine you try.

Cutting calories doesn’t mean cutting corners on taste. With a little savvy (and maybe a cooler climate), you can sip smarter without sacrificing the fun.