I recently had the opportunity to sample a new brand of white wine. It was excellent. As good, in fact, as any nice sauvignon blanc I’ve enjoyed.
What caught my attention, however, was the bottle. It touted a nutrition facts label. We don’t often see nutrition labels on alcoholic beverages because alcohol is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Instead these products are under the guidance of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. So, unlike food products, nutrition labeling on alcohol is only required if the manufacturer makes a nutrition claim such as “light” beer. This particular wine boasted “zero sugar” on its bottle. So there you go.
As I studied the label, I was curious how the sugar content in this product differs from a usual glass of sauvignon blanc … or any other type of wine for that matter.
So here’s the deal. Wine cannot be made without sugar. It’s the natural sugars (carbs) in grapes that are fermented into alcohol that make wine possible. Wine makers tell us that some sugar, called “residual sugar,” may be left over at the end of the fermentation process. Sugar or grape juice may also be added to wine for extra sweetness, according to Wine Spectator. But this is not common for higher quality wines.
So … how much sugar is in wine? According to the United States Department of Agriculture, an average 5-ounce glass of “dry” wine has 1 to 2 grams of residual sugar, a miniscule amount. A “sweet” or dessert wine may contain 5 or more grams of unfermented sugar, which is about a teaspoon.
According to its label, one serving (5 fluid ounces) of this zero sugar sauvignon blanc contains 112 calories and 2.7 grams of carbohydrates (sugar). According to data from USDA, the same amount of a typical sauvignon blanc contains 119 calories and 3 grams of carbs. Not much difference.
Wine experts rate Brut-type champagnes and sparkling wines as being perhaps the lowest in sugar. Other dry wines such as sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot grigio, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and Sangiovese are also low in residual sugar.
According to the most current 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, wine is definitely not the main source of sugar in our diets. That distinction goes to sugar-sweetened beverages, desserts and sweet snacks.
These guidelines are very cautious regarding alcohol intake as well. If we choose to drink, men should limit their intake to 2 or fewer servings of alcohol a day; women to 1 or less drink a day. I would guess that is the most important thing to remember in this conversation about wine.
Barbara Quinn-Intermill is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator affiliated with Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. She is the author of “Quinn-Essential Nutrition” (Westbow Press, 2015). Email her at to [email protected].
