People are often astonished at a nutritionist that loves wine. And it won’t surprise many of you that I am not partaking in Dry July. The ‘all or nothing’ approach can be great for some but it’s often not sustainable.
Mitigating The Adverse Effects Of Alcohol As long as it’s enjoyed responsibly I think wine has as much of a medicinal benefit as it does downsides. One of the ways I mitigate the adverse effects of alcohol - additional calories into the body, excess sugar consumption, dodgy additives and fake sweeteners is to keep an eye on the kind of alcohol I’m consuming, the ingredients and crucially the sugar content.
How Much Sugar Is In Your Favourite Drop?
The adverse effects that you feel after a night of sipping on sugary cocktails or downing dessert wine can be as much a sugar come down as a hangover - our livers have to process both sugar and alcohol - we don’t want to double their load!
A Secret Local Tip
Lots of local wines have low residual sugar which is great but I’m going to let you into my new-found favourite. Hopefully, if you’re local you’ve heard of Quartz Reef Organic Biodynamic wines? Apart from being delicious - interestingly none of their usual wines has any more than 4g residual sugar per litre. That’s less than a teaspoon per bottle. Many popular wines have 20g+. That’s 4-5tsp of sugar you’re adding to your meal, long lunch or evening out. What’s even better? They actually do a version of their usual Méthode Traditionnelle with Zero Dosage… which’s 0g of residual sugar. How do you get your hands on it? Get in touch with them.
Great Local Drops (Central Otago)
Here are a few other locally made wines with a lower residual sugar count than many (note: it can vary by year so if you’re a stickler it’s worth checking):
Quartz Reef Méthode Traditionnelle ZD – 0g/l (Ordinary – 4g/l)
Mount Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Noir – 0g/l Carrick Pinot Blanc – 0.85g/l
Two Paddocks Pinot Rose – 2g/l
Wooing Tree Blondie – 4.5g/l
These options are perfect for anyone on a ketogenic diet or simply trying to watch the amount of sugar they put in. What’s better? They’re made in our own backyard.
Will you give them a go?