Carbs, sugars, calories. Welcome to the adulting world where you’ve come to the sobering realization that ingesting anything, whensoever, is no way to live anymore. You’ve taught yourself the risk of taking too many carbohydrates, sugars, and calories (yes, they’re all interwoven), and you’re willing to make better decisions for your overall health benefits, mainly regarding your wine intake. Is low carb wine an option?
As a fan of wine, you might be wondering if you can still take your favorite wine while keeping a low-carb routine. Maybe you’re following a keto or paleo diet and want to ensure that drinking a glass of wine isn’t going to throw your health off track. Interestingly, wine can definitely be part of your low-carb beverages; you need to pick the suitable wine types — in other words, low carb wines.
Now, the big question is, what low carb wine should you take? Or how do you get the best low sugar wine or low carb wine for your diet – from the several varieties of dry wine, dessert wine, and other wines? For example, a rich red wine may suitably be paired with your steak, but not if you’re watching your carb consumption.
Thankfully, this article answers all your questions – from all you need to know about carbs in wine, where they originate from, and how many carbs are there in wine to the best low carb wine to take on a diet.
Let’s explore the topic of low carb wine, including what it is, which varietals are best when you’re watching carbs intake, and which wines you should avoid generally.
What’s A Low Carb Wine?
Carbs are naturally occurring starches, fiber, and sugars your body uses for fuel. All carbs contain sugar molecules and are discovered in various foods and beverages — from fruits and dairy to grains and vegetables — and they supply minerals, vitamins, and other nutritional supplements required by your body. There are two significant forms of carbs: simple and complex carbs.
Simple carbs involve natural sugars (such as lactose from milk and fructose from fruit) plus additional sugars like corn syrup and white sugar. Our bodies digest simple carbs pretty fast as they have limited fiber, which can trigger blood sugar levels to spike.
So, a low carb diet, such as drinking low carb wine, is a diet method that limits nutritional carbohydrates, mostly from sugar-sweetened beverages, grains, and bread. Alternatively, high carbs contain a good amount of fiber and take time to digest, leading to a gradual rise in blood sugar.
Where do the Carbs in Wine come from?
Wine, just like every alcohol, is a fermented nutrition – fermented grape beverage, to be precise.
During fermentation, the sugar from the grapes is slowly “ingested,” and that grape juice finally changes or turns into alcohol. The faster the grapes ferment, the more sugar consumed, and the less sugar remains in the by-product.
The sugar that’s remaining is termed residual sugar. Syrupy wines are fermented for a shorter period, so they have more sugar than dry wine that’s been fermented for a longer time.
Of course, some base wines – like wine sangria and coolers – are blended with other high-carb drinks, such as soda. This boosts the sugar in your glass. Even sangria made with the driest red wine isn’t ideal for a low-carb diet!
Dry Wine: The Low Carb Wine Option to Drink
When monitoring your carb consumption, consider dry wines. They typically have the least sugar grams and, thus, the lowest carbs rate. But what exactly does “dry” mean? Many wines contain residual sugar during fermentation; the higher the residual sugar, the more carbs in the wine.
Sugary wines have a shorter fermentation process, meaning less time to disintegrate sugar, and therefore more sugar is left over. (Also, this provides sweet wines with their sweet, fruity flavor). So, wine is said to be dry if it has at most, 10 grams of sugar per bottle.
While it is difficult to get a completely dry wine, you can see a lot of keto-friendly wine choices if you know the kinds of naturally low-sugar wines to search for. For example, buy sparkling wines to avoid carbs in Champagne (that is, Champagne, prosecco, and cava), dry reds such as merlot and pinot noir, and whites such as sauvignon blancs to avoid carbs in white wine.
Some bottles will even state “dry” right on the label. Another valuable tip is to buy higher alcohol-content wines, which means most of the sugar has been converted (fermented) into alcohol. Also, sparkling wines named Brut and Extra Brut usually have the smallest rates of residual sugar—as low as 1.5 grams of carbs (or less) per serving.
Despite their bright and sweet taste, sauvignon blancs are a perfect choice of low carb wine, with 3 grams of carbs per serving. Its full-bodied companion, chardonnay, will give you nearly 3.2 grams of carbs per glass. Combine these wines with seafood and creamy sauces.
For those searching for a light red wine, pinot noir, with just 3.4 grams of carbs per glass, is an excellent option for any period. It goes well with salads and fish, plus richer ingredients such as mushrooms.
In addition, merlot is a great, heavier red wine with 3.7 grams of carbs per glass—a suitable combination for your steak feast. Remember that one serving of wine is regularly 5 ounces. So, while the occasional glass of wine is regarded as low carbs, numerous glasses or drinking many days weekly could hinder your motive of sticking to a low carb diet, particularly if you’re trying to shed weight.
High-Carb Wine Options to Avoid
Be careful of cheaper, budget-driven wines with more residual sugar for taste enhancement. Other wines with higher carb counts are often just naturally high in sugar and syrupiness. Ultimately, this means they’ll be less in alcohol content, so if you get a wine under 13% alcohol content, that indicates it has more sugar.
This includes varieties such as Moscato, zinfandel, Riesling, and any wine with 4.5 grams of carbs or above 30 g/L residual sugar.
Top 7 Low Carb Wines to Drink
1. Classic Sauv Blancs (Net Carbs Per Serving: 2g, Calories Per Serving: 119 Calories)
Apart from being the crispiest and driest wine currently, dry wines are the least in carbohydrates. Classic Sauv Blancs will have hints of grass, pineapple, and peach, perfectly paired with delicate fish meals and green vegetables topped with fresh herbs.
2. Champagne (Net Carbs Per Serving: 2g, Calories Per Serving: 95 Calories)
Often Dieting and socializing don’t go together, but with dry sparkling whites (like Champagne, Prosecco, and Cava), you are good to go. So when considering low carb wine, Champagne is one of the best options as carbs in Champagne are extremely low —just 2 grams per 5-ounce glass.
Also, to watch out for carbs in wine or keto-friendly wine, look for the terms “Extra Brut,” “Brut Nature,” or “Brut,” and you’ll be in the clear.
3. Chardonnay (Net Carbs Per Serving: 2g, Calories Per Serving: 123 Calories)
While chardonnay is creamier and less acidic, it’s not explicitly a sweet wine. Serve it chilled with fish, smoked meats, or salad to make the tasting or savoring notes of apple, lemon, honeysuckle, and butterscotch bright. As much as carb content, we’re talking about 2 grams per glass. (Ensure it’s not a high-alcohol Chard.)
4. Dry Riesling (Net Carbs Per Serving: 5.5g, Calories Per Serving: 115 Calories)
German Riesling is known for being sweet, but most wines are relatively dry. Plus, it’s incredibly food-friendly. The basis is to search for the term “Trocken” on the label, which will take you to a crisp white with hints of apricot lime and jasmine (and about 1 gram of carbs per pour).
5. Pinot Grigio (Net Carbs Per Serving: 3g, Calories Per Serving: 124 Calories)
This zesty white varietal wine has approximately 3 grams of carbs per 5-ounce pour, and its bright acidity and flavors of melon, lemon-lime, and wet stone are loved by all and sundry. It goes or blends well with creamy sauces (which is acceptable on a diet), seafood, and a hot summertime day.
6. Gamay (Net Carbs Per Serving: 3.5g, Calories Per Serving: 117 Calories)
A low-tannin French red, fruit-forward, this wine has relishing or tasting hints of butterscotch, raspberry, cranberry, and black cherry. Gamay is a lighter-bodied wine, and it generally has a lower alcohol content than other red wine varietals, making it a perfect bottle to look out for if you’re looking out for low carb or keto-friendly wine.
Plus, combine it with a cauliflower crust pizza; you will get a refreshing taste!
7. Chianti (Net Carbs Per Serving: 2.6g, Calories Per Serving: 125 Calories)
This Italian red is fruity and spicy, with hints of green pepper, black cherry, and strawberry. It’s also a keto win (Keto friendly) at about 2.6 grams of carbs per serving. Wondering what to combine it with? A tomato-based pasta sauce (prepared with spaghetti squash, natch) is recommended.
Conclusion
You don’t have to bid alcohol intake goodbye when looking for low carb wine or following a low-carb diet. While you’ll have to reconsider that daily or regular lunchtime bag of chips or donut run, you can still enjoy a glass of wine as part of your general health routine, as some recent studies have shown that drinking red wine in moderation provides some health benefits.
So, while all glasses of wine may have some carbs, the verdict is still out on how they may affect you exactly. Some red wines may lower your blood sugar, while excessive wine intake may increase the blood sugar of some people with diabetes. If you count carbs for health purposes, remember that wine has a reasonable carbs amount and, as such, should be enjoyed moderately.
Nevertheless, choose dry wines with less residual sugar when watching out for low carb wine. Even some dry red wines, such as sparkling wines, white wines, and rosé wines, may have zero grams of sugar. Luckily, you can find options whether you’re a lover of white, red, or rosé —check your favorite wine store collections for low-carb wines, and you can see for yourself.
Overall, consider low carb wine to cut carbs today and carry on!
For more ideas about wine generally, check out our blog for more content.
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