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What do low calorie listings mean for wine?
UK health secretary, Andrew Lansley, is currently pushing compulsory calorie listings on menus in all restaurants and pubs.
The initiative is not a totally novel one. The Real Greek chain, has been pioneering this movement for some time and Pizza Express offers a low alcohol wine as part of its Leggera range, boasting a slim-line 100 calories per glass.
The aim of compulsory calorie listings is to help make UK diners more health conscious, which can only be a good thing, but not every aspect of the plan is as rose-tinted or straightforward to implement.
Firstly, the cost of calorie-measuring all the dishes available in a reasonably sized restaurant can cost in the region of £3,000, which may prove an unviable additional overhead for small businesses.
Secondly, are we about to see this stipulation extended to the drinks list? Other than veering away from the deadly-but-delicious looking selection of cream-based cocktails, it now looks possible that both government and consumers could start to demand more information on the calorie content in a restaurant’s drinks selection.
As a general rule, the lower the alcohol level, the lower the perceived calorie intake, but consumers often forget that the alcohol-sugar levels in wine are inversely related, meaning that a decrease in alcohol often equals more sugar, therefore finding a lo-cal balance is tricky.
While tricky, it is not impossible. Gareth Groves, communications manager for Bibendum, explained that lower calorie wines can be made either by naturally minimising the levels of sugar in the grapes through earlier picking (the tactic employed by Pizza Express’ wine producers) or alternatively through manipulating the wines artificially.
It would seem for the moment that the demand for low calorie wine is not strong enough to influence producers. Groves said: “While the quality of the manipulated wines holds up to its fully alcoholic counterpart, producers are not making these wines because the demand is not great enough at the moment.”
While few in the drinks industry are likely to recommend a switch to sparkling water, one other alternative, of course, is for the health conscious to switch to zero dosage Champagne which contains no added sugar. While a bit pricier than your average Pinot Grigio, it certainly ups the glamour stakes.
Marinel FitzSimons, 10.08.10