Inevitably some of us will have put on weight over the cooler months and, if like me, you not only cooked the food but ate it too then the waist-band button is probably straining a bit. But should the feeble warmth of spring finally give way to summer then legs and mid-riffs will be bared and that excess will have to go. So that means reducing the daily intake of calories.
Wine contains calories, averaging 85 in every glass, so drinking two fewer glasses a day is the equivalent of removing a slice cake from this woman’s recommended 2000 daily calories (good news for men as you are recommended an extra 500 calories a day on top of this).
The actual number of calories in a glass of wine varies – high levels of alcohol and sugar can easily double the average number. Dry wines with a low alcoholic strength will have the lowest calorie count.
Choose English and German wines while dieting as the northern European cool climate only allows alcohol volumes to get to a maximum of 12% (that’s pretty low compared to the 14 or 15% alcoholic strength wines commonly produced in the hotter wine producing-areas of Australia or South Africa). For the lowest number of calories in a glass try German wines, 9% alcohol is not unusual.
PG Wine Reviews
Tesco Vin de France White, 10.5%
£3.99 Tesco
Light pear flavours.
Hilltop Hungarian Pinot Grigio – Királyleányka, 11%
£4.49 Co-op
Very light lemon, apple and peach flavours. A lunchtime slurp.
Aldi Venturer Portuguese Vinho Verde, 11%
£4.99 Aldi
Refreshing and aromatic. Light lemon and peardrops with a zing and fizzle.
Pied Tanqué Blanc, Vin de France, 11%
£5.49 Majestic
Refreshing drunk cold – apple, pear and lemon flavours that are light enough, with a good sweet-acid balance, to be refreshing without taking the teeth enamel off.
Pied Tanqué Rouge, Vin de France, 11%
£5.49 Majestic
Fruity red with hints of dark choc but with a light main flavour. Nice food-friendly blend.
Tapada de Villar Portuguese Vinho Verde, 10.5%
£6.99 M&S
Pleasant spritzy white.
Quinta de Azevedo Portuguese Vinho Verde, 11%
£8.22 Majestic
Light lemon and apple with a hint of creaminess. Plus a spritz.
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© Paula Goddard 2014 www.paulagoddard.com
