Decanting Digest - 3 lovely light wines

Somewhere in the expanse of days between popping champagne corks and outdoor walks in light jackets, we might feel our commitment to new year’s resolutions begin to fade.

It’s not that we didn’t make them with sincerity, of course. It’s just that few people truly want to drink lemon water, eat salad, or leave the house for a run while temperatures are hovering well below freezing. 

Some light compromise could be the answer. Food can be healthful but still warming, exercise routines can be completed at home, and it may not be necessary to give up wine entirely to meet your wellness goals. Moderation is one option, but another has become available recently: light wines are becoming more common, and some of them aren’t too shabby.

We sampled three of the lower-calorie, low-alcohol wines that are currently available at the LCBO. Given that the labels on several mass-produced light wines feature flexing athletes or diet-culture pandering, we chose these three because they’re the ones we’d be least embarrassed to show up with at a dinner party. 

Our takeaways? This experiment works far better with white varieties than reds, which really need the fuller alcohol content for structure and aging. And it’s important to keep one’s expectations in check: while two of these wines are from producers with facilities in Ontario, they don’t carry a vintage or the VQA appellation marker, and they’re made with a blend of both Canadian and international wines. 

That doesn’t automatically make a wine terrible, but it does mean that what went into it probably wasn’t good enough to make it into a top-quality (read: more expensive) wine. That said, if lower-calorie is your goal, you might consider these worth a try.

Peller Family Vineyards Pinot Grigio Light
Ontario (International Blend)
LCBO#: 16785
$10.45

This wine has an alcohol content of 8% and 120 calories per 6 oz. serving, but plenty of sugar at 19 grams per litre. (For reference, the average 6 oz. glass contains 150 calories.) Of the three wines we tried, this was easily the most fragrant, with apple and floral notes wafting well beyond the pale pinkish-yellow hues in the glass. Those florals join in with flavours of lychee and grapefruit, which offer a very slight acidity but don’t linger for long. This wine’s relative lightness would make a nice accompaniment to a delicate poached or pan-fried white fish in a browned butter sauce.
Score: 7.5/10

Cupcake Light Hearted Chardonnay
California, USA
LCBO#: 19725
$15.95

This lighter version of a California Chard rings in at 8% alcohol, 100 calories for 6 oz, and 5 grams of sugar per litre. It presents with a light golden yellow colour and a pleasant melange of papaya, pineapple, and caramel on the nose. Sipping adds a layer of citrus and a lightly buttery but not overpowering infusion of oak. It’s not as full-flavoured as a traditional Chardonnay, but that could make it more versatile in some ways. Enjoy it with a roast chicken dinner so that you can save a few calories for dessert.
Score: 7.5/10

Jackson-Triggs Cabernet Sauvignon Light
Ontario (International Blend)
LCBO#: 12287
$10.95

At 8%, the light version of J-T’s Cab Sauv is lower in alcohol than its traditional counterpart, but it’s much higher in sugar at 19 grams per litre. (Calories per glass are not provided.) It pours well with a deep burgundy colour and a nose that’s flush with currant and fresh berries. The flavour is where things get a bit dicey: with the same flavours in the tasting as are found on the nose, it’s far fruitier than a typical Cab Sauv and not at all complex. Chill it slightly like a Pinot noir and it becomes a little more gregarious. Served this way, it would work well with grilled turkey burgers for a summer barbecue.
Score: 6/10

Steph is a successful, established freelance writer and has been a wine aficionado for more than two decades. Connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.
Decanting Digest appears every other Wednesday.
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