Carbs in Wine… Fact or Fiction?
Carbs in wine usually come from sugar, right? This is a common notion among most people. After all, in the process of making wine, even homemade wine, grapes or any kind of fruit is one of the main ingredients. And of course, this fruit contains sugar. The sugar feeds on yeast first which in turn produces carbon dioxide and alcohol. This process is what we call fermentation. So when people say that carbs in wine are present, they automatically think that it comes from sugar, which is not true. Carbs in wine are not from sugar. Contrary to popular belief, carbs in wine come from the alcohol itself. Remembering your basic chemistry, there is a simple formula that we can use to determine the level or amount of carbs in wine or in any an alcoholic beverage. This formula goes like this: 1.6 x % alcohol x oz. of liquid. For example, you’re drinking about 5 oz. of wine and it has12% alcohol. We determine the amount of carbs by doing the following multiplication: 1.6 x 12 x 5 = 96. This means that drinking 5 oz. of wine with 12% alcohol will give you 96 calories. The calories you get here come solely from the alcohol in the wine and not from the sugar since that’s already been fermented. There are also trace amounts of protein in the wine, 0.0 grams of saturated fats and 0 grams of fat. This means that there are really NO carbs in wine since wine is primarily water and alcohol.
Concerning diets which are very much prevalent these days, there are people who say that red wines offer less carbs because they are less sweet and more bitter. It can’t be stressed enough that there are no carbs in wine. Furthermore, what these people don’t know is that the characteristic color of red wines comes from the skin of the grapes that are used in the winemaking process. This makes the quality of the wine thicker and richer too. While the lack of sweetness comes from the tannins used and not from lack of sugar. So when one makes white wine for instance, what they do is they don’t let the wine sit on grape skin while it undergoes the process of fermentation. And they use less tannin to bring out the sweet rather than the tannic taste.
Just remember this, winemaking is all about taking the grapes or any fruit and letting it undergo the fermentation process by letting the sugar feed on yeast to produce alcohol and carbon monoxide. That is pretty much the basic wine instruction for any wine maker. So be sure to enjoy your favorite wine and not worry too much about the carbs in wine. Wine is pretty much safe and healthy when taken in moderation. Try to not limit yourself with the choices available to you. There are numerous kinds of wines out there and it would be very exciting to widen your horizons and treat wine tasting and winemaking as an exciting adventure!
